The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Certified: 18
Duration: 104 minutes
Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson
KRS release
The Kids Are All Right is a smart and intelligent mix of comedy and drama that has quite some interesting messages to convey, all under the cover of light entertainment.
I also believe that Oscar nomination nods will be forthcoming to the two female protagonists, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. The dialogue is priceless and the film is full of energy and vitality.
Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and her younger brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) have had quite an usual upbringing. Joni, 18, and Laser, 15, have been brought up by lesbian parents – Nic (Annette Bening), who is a doctor, and Jules (Julianne Moore) who has her own landscaping enterprise.
Both Laser and Joni are grappling with various teenage issues. Laser is always hanging out with a troublemaker named Clay (Eddie Hassell) while Joni is graduating and her friend Sasha (Zosia Mamet) is always inserting sexual meanings into everything. Laser wants to know who their biological father is and so he convinces Joni to make a request at the donation clinic.
This leads them to Paul (Mark Rufalo) who works as a restaurateur and has a sexual relationship with his younger employee. When the teenagers enter his life, he is quite unsure as to how to handle the situation. However, he soon starts taking interest in the two teenagers and their lesbian parents. But his entry into the family could soon imbalance a relationship and family that had worked for years.
Director Lisa Cholodenko, who is also responsible for the script, comes from what she terms to be a liberal, Jewish family. She is in a lesbian relationship herself and has a son from a sperm donor. Her film has a lot to say but does it without any preaching and gives more value to the characters. The subplots are tackled well without overbalancing the movie’s pacing. Overall, Ms Cholodenko shows that good films can be made without the need of any overdone camera trickery.
Ms Bening delivers a powerhouse performance. Her character is that of a workaholic, whose vitality places her at the centre of the film. Julianne Moore balances her out by bringing a very different character who is a bit vain, a bit perky and very huggable.
The two teenage actors acquit themselves well even in the presence of a much more experienced cast. Mia Wasikowska easily elicits tears and emotions while Mark Ruffalo replays his usually likable laidback character that he has played in many of his films.
From the surface of it one might think the film is sending a message about gay marriages. I beg to differ: Ms Cholodenko’s film is about marriage and relationships and about love and its evolution.
P.S. As I was writing this review, the American Film Institute named The Kids Are All Right as one of the best 10 films of 2010.