The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), the children of same-sex parents Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore), become curious about the identity of their sperm-donor dad Paul,(Mark Ruffalo) and set out to make him part of their family unit, often with hilarious results. But his arrival complicates the household dynamics, and nobody is sure how he fits in, if at all.

After I finally sat down and watched The Kids Are All Right, the next day I asked my friend what he thought of it. He immediately responded with “The one with the two dykes?” Initially I laughed it off, but when thinking about it, that really may be one of the better ways to describe the film. Its story of a family struggling to hold itself together is all caused by the simple fact that the women are lovers. It is about the only thing that separates the story from average. Otherwise, it’s just another fairly average family drama.  

The film is essentially broken into two parts that unravel at the same destination at the end. The fascination of a child to want to find their birth parents is nothing new for stories, but never before has there been a cooler one than Mark Ruffalo, Jules seems to have the same train of thought here. With the arrival of Paul, worlds begin to flip upside down. Everyone outside of Nic seems to enjoy him; He is the variable she just cannot control and that frustrates her to high hell.  You see despite being in a homosexual relationship, the standard roles are still there. Nic is the demanding “husband” that pays the bills, while Jules is the underappreciated stay at home “mother”. I guess the film is trying to tell us dykes are no different than the normal couple; big shocker there.

I have to wonder where all the recognition comes from. Annette Benning as Nic gives a good performance, but Oscar worthy? I don’t see it. The star here is Mark Ruffalo who despite being the bad guy is too damn likeable to dislike. It actually disappoints you when they leave his fate up in the air. You want him to win and be happy despite the trouble he has caused and the moronic decisions he makes.

After it’s all said and done, The Kids Are All Right, well, was simply alright. It gathered a shitload of recognition that seems a bit much. He is barely an interesting film and it moves at a much slower pace than you’d like. This felt like that annual indie film that is praised to be something it is not. Others may end up enjoying it, but it just is not my cup of tea.

Overall Score: 5/10