This is a modern film set in a modern time about a modern family with traditional family issues. I love indie films and this is definitely a great one to watch. The Kids Are All Right is about a family consisting of two moms and their two half kids. Two half kids? Jules and Nic played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening each have a kid from the same father who is nowhere to be found – not because he’s a dead beat dad…but because he was a sperm donor. Joni (Mia Wasikowska) is their daughter who just turned eighteen and is on her way to college and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) is their younger son who wants his sister to find out who their father is since he’s too young to ask himself. This is the story of what happens when Paul (Mark Ruffalo) their sperm dad comes into their lives and into their family’s life.
The writing of this film is so amazing. As you sit watching the film, you feel like you’re having these life changing conversations with the characters themselves. Like when the kids meet their dad for the first time and you get those awkward “so…what do you do?” questions or when the two moms sit their son down and probe him if he’s “exploring” with a friend of his. The relationships that are built and then broken down feel so real and intimate that it’s as if you’re a part of the family and start siding with the different family members. But none of the characters are perfect and that adds such a great dimension to the film.
Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as Jules and Nic, the married couple
The beginning of the movie moves fast and is fun. There’s a lot of comedy thrown into this drama to help deliver the message. The dialogue in the beginning is pretty typical strengthening the point that this is a regular family even though it’s so irregular. As the story progresses and Paul enters the mix, each member of the family takes his addition in a different way. You’re glued to the screen wondering how each will end up interacting with Paul and then how that interaction will affect their relationships with each other…especially Jules and Nic, the two moms. This is Joni’s last summer living with her family before she moved out and as Jules put it, she doesn’t want to have a timeshare with her own daughter.
Through the middle of the film, it feels like the movie slows down to a halt and then after the big climax during a pivotal point of this new family, the flow stops and the movie begins to drag. It keeps going and going as the characters sulk around in the problems they each created for themselves and each other until the end when the movie just ends. I’m not a fan of the ending but it goes with the rest of the story in the way that family isn’t perfect and timing doesn’t always work out the way you want so whatever happens is what happens. This would be exactly what Jules would say as she is the definition of a free spirit hippie – a great contrast to Nic who is a smart witty woman with a control problem.
Family Dinner with the...whole family
I think the story is unique and strong enough to carry the film through this drawn out middle and end. Especially because of the performances from all of the cast. The lesbian and gay community as well as the artificial insemination community will be glad that they can call this film their own.
Tags: Annette Bening, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, The Kids Are All Right
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
