Review of The Kids Are All Right (2010) by Iswearimsmart — 12 Aug 2011

The Kids Are All Right should be a good film, and has some tender, honest moments. Unfortunately, the film is undone by its own premise. We have a typical, dysfunctional family with problems the general public can relate to.

.. except the family has two moms! How progressive! Except it isn't, and that's sort of the point. What really screws the film up is Mark Ruffalo's character Paul. He isn't a bad or uninteresting character, but the effects he has on the plot is baffling, aggravating and it completely undoes the main purpose of the film.

I will say spoiler alert, but since it is in the trailer it really isn't, but Julianne Moore's character (Jules) has an affair with Paul. Again, this isn't inherently a bad plot point, but it is handled very poorly.

When a gay person has sex with someone of the opposite sex, it is confusing and brings up all these questions of sexuality... but the movie doesn't address them, it barely even scratches the surfaces.

It was annoying to see this strong lesbian woman have an affair with a man for no apparent reason. Paul serves absolutely no purpose in this movie. He just detracts from the central family. The film would have been better off focusing more on the "dysfunctional family" than introducing this character.

This combination of Paul and the affair he has with Jules causes the film to fall flat on its intriguing performances. All the actors do give solid performances, including the kids. Too bad the actors are wasted here.