The Squid and the Whale / Running with Scissors

The Squid and the Whale: A pair of brothers living in Brooklyn are caught in the middle of, and deeply affected by, the divorce of their erudite parents, Bernard (Jeff Daniels) and Joan Berkman (Laura Linney). Older sibling Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) sides with dad and acts out at school, while younger brother Frank (Owen Kline) quietly backs up mom. The household tension rises further when Joan's writing career takes off and surpasses the failed ambitions of her professor ex-husband.

Running with Scissors: As the son of an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, young Augusten Burroughs faces a challenging childhood at the very least. His life takes an unexpected turn when his mother gives him to her unorthodox therapist, and the boy becomes a member of the doctor's own strange, extended family.