The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Larry Gleeson. Viewed on January 28, 2010 at the Lobero Theatre, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2011.

The Kids Are All Right, directed and written by Lisa Cholodenko with Stuart Blumberg sharing writing credit was released by Focus Features and with a running time of 1 hour 45 minutes and stars Annette Bening (Nic), Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska (Joni) and Josh Hutcherson. The the film  is about  a lesbian couple, a tightly wound medical doctor Nic, played by Annette Bening,  and loose-limbed landscaping seeker Jules, played by Julianne Moore. They seem to  have an ease with each other and appear to be a picture of normalcy with a Volvo in the driveway and a tidy, spacious home in Los Angeles – oh, and two children conceived with the help of an anonymous sperm donor.

The film opens with a point of view shot of Laser, played by Josh Hutcherson, skateboarding on the street while his running buddy tows Laser with a bicycle. Laser knocks over trash can after trash can. . .

One day,  Laser decides he want to meet the sperm donor. As Laser is only fifteen and in order to see the sperm bank’s file he needs to be eighteen so he enlists the help his eighteen year old sister Joni, played by Mia Wasikowska. On her 18th birthday, at Laser’s insistence, Joni, named after singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell,  calls the sperm bank and contacts their father. The donor father turns out to be Paul, played by Mark Ruffalo,  a ruggedly handsome, abundantly charming restaurateur.

At first Paul comes across as very debonair  but “he’s like a hit from a joint that unrolls this high-strung family.” Nic,  is uneasy with Paul’s charms and rightfully so. Paul hires Jules for a landscape project – at his home. Soon and very soon, the pent up sexual desire of Paul and the human adventure seeking of Jules explode into cascades of landscape and bedroom bravado.

While the family is having a delightful dinner at Paul’s home a moment of revelation occurs. Artistically portrayed, Nic after finding evidence of Jules affair with Paul, returns to the table. A low subsonic rumble begins, voices start to fade  the rumble grows louder, heartbeats begin increasing as Nic is psychologically and physiologically preparing herself to defend her family.

The scene plays out. Nic confronts Jules. Jules is remorseful. Their life together hangs in the balance.

Meanwhile Paul, who is into the new dynamic of having a ready made family, decides to drop by Nic and Jules home. Nic, who has already come to terms with what she needs to do confronts Paul at the front door. Foreshadowed earlier in the film with a telling close up, Nic emphatically lets Paul know, “This is my family….you’re an interloper!”

Powerful performances enhance a very adept, adroit script that is both funny and heartfelt without over exaggerations and over embellishments.