The Kids Are All Right

An issue I had with Lisa Cholodenko’s otherwise all-right The Kids are All Right was how abrupt the ending was. I’ll get to the ending a little bit later, and instead, spend some time to dictate what this film is about.

Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and her brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) were both conceived due to artificial insemination from the same donor. Their household is headed by their Lesbian mothers Nic (Annette Bening), the physician and Jules (Julianne Moore), the stay-at-home mom with dreams of landscaping.

Thanks to Joni, the kids’ father, restaurateur Paul (Mark Ruffalo) finally enters the picture. Despite admitting he only did his part just for cash and for the hell-of-it, he gets along quite well with the kids. He especially gets along with Jules, with whom he carries on an adulterous affair.

Naturally, the aforementioned ending is triggered once the affair is finally discovered. I won’t say further, but let’s say some of the plot isn’t clearly resolved on-screen. I think the idea was to have its audience discuss and think about the ending amongst them. I know I am as I’m writing this; it makes a little more sense.

As for the actors, they are quite all-right to say the least. As Paul, Mark Ruffalo makes a likeable guy, perhaps too likeable as a third-wheel in a relationship. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, as Jules and Nic, make for an excellent couple in love. These are the highlights of such a nice cast.

Much of the credit for the actors’ performances goes to Cholodenko and her co-writer, Stuart Blumberg. They’ve avoided potentially overused dramatic clichés in their depiction of relationships. They thus act like real people, and not actors clearly begging for the Academy’s attention. I’m quite positive it’ll get the Academy’s attention anyway because it’s one of the best films of the summer.