Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right is a very well-acted and moving family “dramedy.” Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play a lesbian couple whose kids Joni (named after Joni Mitchell and played by Alice in Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (yes that’s his name) decide to contact their donor dad (Mark Ruffalo), causing some friction within the family.
I was worried that things might move into preachy territory, but with a minor exception it avoids being too heavy-handed on the messages and manages to always feel natural, never forced. A pretty big accomplishment considering how serious and complex some of the issues are. It was also nice to see flawed (aka real) characters. At times it seems to get a little carried away with its own hipness but this is still a very honest movie with some great performances and several especially powerful scenes towards the end, which I hope earns Annette Bening some serious awards consideration (she pretty much knocks this one out of the park). I really enjoyed spending a few hours with this dysfunctional family and recommend checking this one out.
8/10
mangold
Maryann
Michael Bay is the Antichrist 
Recent Comments