Review of The Kids Are All Right (2010) by Ben L — 18 Sep 2016

The Kids Are All Right is one of the first larger budget family dramas that really focuses on a non-traditional family. What I appreciated about the film is that, while it looked at the differences of their family life, it never acted like this was a big deal.

The movie is simply about a family and the fact that the parents were both women was kind of a non-issue. I was impressed with the forthright way that they talk about their sex life with the son and it had a rather humorous setup, too.

I do wonder if anyone recognized the irony of 2 straight women who are paid to pretend they are lesbians complaining about lesbian porn because it's 2 straight women paid to pretend they are lesbians, but I took it as a tongue-in-cheek reference and laughed it off.

Sadly, The Kids Are All Right lost me in act two because it took a sudden left turn and was no longer about the kids, and became primarily about the parents and their issues. The setup seemed to promise a different film than the one that was delivered later on.

As things came to a head I thought the movie picked back up and I was once again on board, because the family of four was back center stage, and we were able to see how they worked through issues just like any family would.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mark Ruffalo as an actor, and his early scenes in this movie were great. I just wanted this to be a traditional drama about a non-traditional family, because it seemed so charming when it was only being that one thing.

From the moment the kiss took place (and if you've seen the movie hopefully you know what kiss I'm referring to) I wondered "Where did my movie go?" The Kids Are All Right is still a fairly progressive movie, but it didn't hit a home run, so I was somewhat disappointed.