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The Kids Are All Right
Lisa Cholodenko
Appealing and amusing portrait of a family, one that is slightly unorthodox on the surface but that has all the familiar strengths and weaknesses as most any. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening are Jules and Nicole, a lesbian couple who have been together for over twenty years. Nic is a doctor, Jules...isn't. Currently unemployed but thinking of starting up her own landscape architecture business, she has forgone a career to raise their children. They have two, a boy and a girl, each having carried a child via artificial insemination. The girl, Joni (Mia Wasikowska), is the oldest, eighteen and about to go off to college. The boy, Laser (Josh Hutcherson), is fifteen and much less goal-oriented than his sister or his other Mom. But he's grown curious about their biological father. They know they were both conceived from the same anonymous donor, and now that Joni is of age she can request to have the record unsealed. They do, and it turns out to be Paul (Mark Ruffalo), a scruffy restaurant owner. The kids meet him first, and while Laser is less than impressed Joni is almost immediately enamored. Then it's time to meet the whole family.
Director and co-writer Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, High Art) navigates the dramadey waters expertly, equal parts awkwardness and emotion, as each of the five characters realize things they may be missing and either embrace or confront those elements found by adding the new person to the mix. Laughs, tears...what more can you ask for? All five of the actors are excellent, especially Ruffalo, who gets his best role since his breakthrough in You Can Count On Me nearly a decade ago, Moore has never been better, and Wasikowska who was so captivating in HBO's "In Treatment" a couple years ago is quickly maturing into one of the best young actresses around. Bening plays the most tightly wound of the characters but gets to have some of the most emotional payoff in the third act.
Definitely one of the most engaging and satisfying movies of the year, happily free of explosions or 3D, instead relying on the honest interaction between the characters for its fireworks.
GRADE: A-
The Kids Are All Right
Lisa Cholodenko
Appealing and amusing portrait of a family, one that is slightly unorthodox on the surface but that has all the familiar strengths and weaknesses as most any. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening are Jules and Nicole, a lesbian couple who have been together for over twenty years. Nic is a doctor, Jules...isn't. Currently unemployed but thinking of starting up her own landscape architecture business, she has forgone a career to raise their children. They have two, a boy and a girl, each having carried a child via artificial insemination. The girl, Joni (Mia Wasikowska), is the oldest, eighteen and about to go off to college. The boy, Laser (Josh Hutcherson), is fifteen and much less goal-oriented than his sister or his other Mom. But he's grown curious about their biological father. They know they were both conceived from the same anonymous donor, and now that Joni is of age she can request to have the record unsealed. They do, and it turns out to be Paul (Mark Ruffalo), a scruffy restaurant owner. The kids meet him first, and while Laser is less than impressed Joni is almost immediately enamored. Then it's time to meet the whole family.
Director and co-writer Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, High Art) navigates the dramadey waters expertly, equal parts awkwardness and emotion, as each of the five characters realize things they may be missing and either embrace or confront those elements found by adding the new person to the mix. Laughs, tears...what more can you ask for? All five of the actors are excellent, especially Ruffalo, who gets his best role since his breakthrough in You Can Count On Me nearly a decade ago, Moore has never been better, and Wasikowska who was so captivating in HBO's "In Treatment" a couple years ago is quickly maturing into one of the best young actresses around. Bening plays the most tightly wound of the characters but gets to have some of the most emotional payoff in the third act.
Definitely one of the most engaging and satisfying movies of the year, happily free of explosions or 3D, instead relying on the honest interaction between the characters for its fireworks.
GRADE: A-