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Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko Premise: The children of a lesbian couple (Julianne
Moore and Annette Bening) seek out the man who was their parent’s sperm donor
(Mark Ruffalo). When the kids bond with their biological father, his presence
causes a disturbance in the family. What Works: The
Kids Are All Right is an excellent example of a film subtly raising
questions through drama. In this case, the film presents the viewer with fluid
conceptions of sexuality and family and thereby questions our own sense of
identity. While The Kids Are All Right
doesn’t provide many answers to the questions it raises, that ambiguity gives
the film its best scenes. As The Kids Are
All Right deals with some heavy thematic issues, it also has a lot of fun
with its characters, playing with their expectations and allowing great moments
of humor. The family has a lot of reality to it and the highs and lows of the
couple, although familiar from other domestic dramas, has a normalizing effect
on the film that gives the audience a framework from which to deal with the
deeper and more subversive questions. One very powerful subplot of The
Kids Are All Right is the relationship between the son (Josh Hutcherson) and
his troublesome friend (Eddie Hassell). The two engage in risky and foolish
teenage behavior that in another film might come off as general idiocy. But
within the context of a story that asks what it means to be a man (or a woman)
and how sexuality, appearances, and associations frame identity, these behaviors
and the relationship between the teenage boys has all new meaning. What Doesn’t: The
Kids Are All Right suffers from narrative threads that aren’t resolved.
The daughter (Mia Wasikowska) finds home cumbersome in her last summer before
college and butts heads with her parents over her rights as a young adult. The
character also experiences romantic tension with her platonic friend (Kunal
Sharma) but the film does not carry either of these subplots to any conclusion.
This is also a very talky film in which the character’s primary expression of
anything and everything occurs through dialogue rather than action. Bottom Line: The Kids Are All Right is an important film about family and sexuality. Although it has some narrative flaws, it is a very satisfying and thought provoking film. |
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