Review of The Kids Are All Right (2010) by Tomas T — 21 Jan 2012

A movie about gay couple raising children might have been controversial and even shocking few decades ago but today it just makes a good setting for a warm and intelligent drama movie. I found the movies tittle "The Kids Are all Right" bit misleading, more suiting would have been "Gay couples as parents are all right" as that is what the movie is about.

Nic (Anette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are a middle age gay couple preparing for their first youngster Joni (Mia Wasikowska) to leave for college. Their younger sibling, Laser by Josh Hutcherson is a your average teenager boyin puberty struggling to find his identity. As if the task was not challenging enough for the parents, the children decide to get in touch with their biological father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). The dad figure quickly injects himself into the family which predictably stirs up conflict between family members. As simple as the idea is, having a unknown male figure amidst a family ran by a gay couple turns out to be entertaining and funny. Most of the movie is carried forward in dialogues between the characters and sophisticated dinner table discussions where they sort their mixed feelings about their situation. Might sound boring but the discussions and the emotions attached to them are well felt through the screen and feel honest.

Revealing more about the story would ruin the experience so concluding that the movie is very likable is in order; however at the same time must say that as warm and feelgood as the movie is, it is rather event less and misses that "something" to make it really memorable.