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The Kids Are All Right: Review
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06/29/2010- by Natasia Langfelder
“The Kids Are All Right” is a feature film directed by Lisa Cholodenko (High Art, Laurel Canyon) and co-written by Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg (Keeping the Faith.) “The Kids Are All Right” made a splash at the 2010 Sundance Festival and won the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. But that doesn’t matter, because my opinion is the one that matters, right? Basically, I’m telling you that you need to see this movie.
The movie is about lesbian parents Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) and their two children, 15 year old Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and 18 year old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) The family has a normal life until Laser convinces his sister to contact their sperm donor father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo) Paul enters the scene and sends the little family reeling. The plot is both simple and plausible and allows for Cholodenko and Blumberg to reveal the characters to you subtly, instead of with knock down dramatics.
The film grabs you from the beginning. Part of the attraction to the characters and setting is Cholodenko’s choice to shoot the movie on film; it gives the visual effect of realness, the comfort of movies you watched when you were growing up. We see Nic, Jules and their children eating at the dinner table. The inner workings of the family are automatically exposed. Nic is overbearing but she loves her children, Jules tries to get Nic to lay off, the kids roll their eyes. They are the family you had, or the one you wanted, or your childhood best friend’s family.
The story unfolds from there; Hutcherson deftly portrays Laser’s desire for a male figure in his life and his disappointment with Paul, the one that is offered to him. The laid back Paul is a sharp contrast to the head of the family, overbearing Nic, and Joni and Jules develop relationships with him. The audience will feel genuinely bad for Nic as she realizes that her family is slipping away from her, which they are. I felt really bad for Nic, but that may be because Annette Bening as Nic is incredibly hot. Hot as in, I didn’t know Annette Bening could be so hot. If the movie was just Annette Bening as Nic smiling and waving at the camera, that would have been okay with me.
The acting from all five of the main players is superb and the supporting cast does a great job too. The character of Jules was written with Julianne Moore in mind and it shows; there is no line between Julianne and Jules, they appear to be one and the same. Moore has built a reputation as an on screen lesbian icon and this movie will only add to that. You might recognize ballerina turned actress Mia Wasikowska from Alice in Wonderland. She’s currently Hollywood’s ‘it girl’ and with good reason. This film showcases her talent.
The writing is what really shines in this movie; it’s more than just true to life. Each word has meaning; each sentence furthers your insight into a particular character or situation. Like a well written short story, there is no waste and no fat that needs trimming.
My one complaint? There is a ton of exciting heterosexual sex a few shots of gay male porn and some really sad boring lesbian sex. But the sad boring lesbian sex makes sense Jules and Nic because they have been together for so long. Oh well.
“The Kids Are All Right” uses a lesbian family to portray universal problems faced by all families. If it can garner a large straight audience, it will normalize LGBT families to that audience. The film is one of the best explorations of a long term relationship I have ever seen. It approaches the characters as a family as opposed to a ‘gay family’ while staying true to lesbian culture.
Ultimately, this is a movie about all families, any family, partnerships, gay or straight, parents and children. See it with someone you love. It will hit US theaters on July 9th.
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12 Responses to The Kids Are All Right: Review
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takeuwithme
December 31, 2010 at 2:19 pm
This movie sucks! Wtf is the DEAL with supposedly gay/lesbian movies where the gay character turns straight??? This dialogue sucks, and it’s obvious their message is a woman is nothing without a man.
Waste of time to see this movie!
DivaFangz
December 18, 2010 at 6:31 pm
seems like more fodder feeding the lesbian phobia that a bi woman will leave you for a man. as a bi woman, i had to turn this movie off and chuck the dvd out the window when she kissed paul for the second time. i’m sorry, but no, that’s bs. it is nothing but the sterotypical gotta have a penis bs that i had hoped was long ago considered passee. i fight this bi-phobic crap every day. when i’m with someone i love them full-on, blind-love, thereisnooneelseintheworldtypeoflove. there was no real, clear, indication that the relationship was in trouble, it was more ‘oh hey there’s this guy now, think i’ll sleep with him’ attitude. total bs. just more bs out there giving bi women a bad name. sorry, but when i’m with someone, and someone else comes on to me, i don’t care if they got something long or something not between their legs, i’m with someone i love. nothing compares. i’m not about to turn my head. just another freakin bs movie. so disappointing. thought it would be at least half-way decent. nothing but bs
takeuwithme
December 31, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I agree, even though I’m a lesbian. If she was a bisexual character, I could understand it if things weren’t going well with her and her partner. But her and Nic seemed to have ups and downs but loved each other. But this made no sense at all.
It is appalling, yet not surprising that this won an award. Shows that homophobia is still popular.
tc affair
November 19, 2010 at 3:12 pm
A good movie that became a poor movie. The actors did well, the filming was good, but politics broke into a nicely flowing script. Annette Bening’s character is well developed, then all that development is ruined when Nic (Annette’s character) doesn’t break with Julianne Moore’s character and winds up with another lover. (In classical movies of this type the new girl would be a cute secretary half Annette’s character’s age). Instead the movie opts for a “sympathy’ oscar as a social “break through” film. I am saddened to say that this movie may get just such a vote. This film deserves a rotten tomato, but will become a partisan film backed by political interest groups. Sad.
Jean M Bsquared
July 10, 2010 at 10:20 am
Again thanks for your reply. It’s been helpful to sort of hash this out via this forum. You make good points of course and appreciate your candor about lesbians sleeping w men “as much as we don’t want to admit it” & “for whatever reason.” Damn Kinsey scale. Keep up the good work . This is a great website.
Bridgette P. LaVictoire
July 10, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Thank you. I also have to say that I am starting to feel like I am off the Kinsey scale. Either that or I’m so far on the far end of the side that says ‘lesbian’ that I can’t see heterosexuality with a telescope.
Jean M Bsquared
July 9, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Natasia Thanks for your response. I get the dynamics but why does midlife crisis for a woman in a same sex relationship = cure by smarmy PC guy?? Why not another femme fatale? Are lesbo birth moms really just looking for a good hetero lay. That’s SO unimaginative and dangerous in terms of a message to send to the general public. I do see dynamics but we need another image going out to the doubters. I will admit I have not seen film but previews and promises of steamy straight sex as a cure are offputting. Yes I like some straight men but I am a political dyke in my own way…
Natasia Rose
July 9, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Hi Jean, Thanks for your comment! I actually had the chance to ask co-writer Stuart Blumberg why there was male gay sex and straight sex in the film but no lesbian sex, he said there was a lesbian sex scene planned, but they ran out of budget. Do I buy it? I don’t know. Lisa Cholodenko, the lesbian director and co author, said that Jules falls a little further down on the Kinsey scale than Nic.
I think the plot of Jules sleeping with a man sucks, but it makes sense for the character of Jules. As much as we don’t want to admit it some lesbians sleep with men, for whatever reason. I still strongly urge you to give the movie a chance. Buuutttt if you want some girl/girl entertainment with no men involved, check out my recaps of The Real L Word, trashy lesboriffic fun.
Natasia Rose
July 9, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Hi Jean, I completely understand what you mean. In theory, it sounds really bad. I have to say, I wouldn’t have cheated on Annette Bening in this movie, she looks smoking hot! But in this movie, the plot works. Jules sleeps with Paul because she can see her children in him, she is frustrated with herself for not finding a careerpath she is happy with, she is getting older and feels less attractive both to herself and her partner. I’m telling you, in theory it sounds bad but it works in the movie. Give it chance, see it, come back and tell me what you think of it.
stepho
July 28, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Hello. Just a point of clarification. You state that Jules sleeps with Paul because she can see her children in him . . . Really so why did’nt Nic sleep with him. Her charming, smart daughter is from him? This reasoning is silly and does not work for me. She slept with him because she wanted to sleep with him.
takeuwithme
December 31, 2010 at 2:24 pm
No it does not in my opinion.
It is not at all clear that is why she sleeps with him. It’s obvious that she sleeps with him because she ‘misses a man’ or something. Like being a lesbian she is missing out on the other side of true life, according to a homophobic screenwriter!
Jean m Bsquared
July 9, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Ok but if straight people see a film where the femme side of the couple essentially ditches the butch partner for a diesel weasel how does that help?? Seems like it perpetutates anti lesbian partnerships, butch girls and plays into straight msle fantasies. Not trying to be difficult — really wanna know how seeing this film won’t piss me off/ break my butch heart for these reasons.