Movies: The Very Bad Dad

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Daniels and stardom have circled each other for years--sometimes to his chagrin. "I understand what it's like being underappreciated," he says, explaining one of the emotions he tapped to play Bernard. The dark bravado with which he attacks the role has already caught Hollywood's attention. "I forgot what a strong actor he was," says director Barry Sonnenfeld, who saw an early print of Squid and promptly cast Daniels, 50, in the big-budget camper comedy R.V. "He's frightening in his coldness." In R.V., Daniels plays one of the "nicest folks you'd ever want to get away from," says co-star Robin Williams. "He can give that sense that, as sweet as he is, a cloud can come at any moment."

Daniels is sweet. He recalls his squeamishness on learning that Anna Paquin, who played his daughter in the save-the-geese weepie Fly Away Home, had been cast as his sort-of love interest in Squid. When they had to shoot a short sexual encounter, he says, "we tried not to think about ... you know, geese."

He delivers the line with the subtle comic timing you would expect of Jeff Daniels. In Squid, though, viewers' laughs turn to gasps and back again as Bernard tries simultaneously to discipline and dazzle his sons. Linney is superb, and the kid actors are scary-good. But it is selfish, flailing Dad who wins the match. As the underloved novelist, Daniels has created his masterpiece. --Reported by Steven Frank/Toronto