THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Any movie that begins with Vampire Weekend cranking out "Cousins" over the opening credits is bound to be ok with me, and I was not disappointed.  As the media darling of The Sundance Festival, multiple Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture nod, 'The Kids Are All Right' is more than just 'all right', it's downright fantastic.  Just a supremely solid movie from start to finish, a true adult drama/comedy that leaves you satisfied at the end and enjoying the ride along the way.

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as a lesbian couple raising two children together, each of whom conceived one of them through a sperm donor some 18 or so years ago.  As their daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska, last seen as Alice in Alice in Wonderland) reaches the age of 18, she's convinced by her younger brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) to reach out and contact their sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo).
As is expected, the new relationship creates a new dynamic within their 'normal' household, and seemingly overnight, their lives, friendships, and values are all altered dramatically.

Despite the sometimes heavy handed cliches thrown at us by the film, there is enormous heart and depth to each of the characters, leading to numerous touching and funny moments.  Bening has been getting all of the award recognition for her portrayal of Nic, an overly controlling, stuck up, 'father figure' of the family, and make no mistake, she is fabulous.  Moore is also fantastic as Jules, the more earthy, loving 'mother' of the family, and deserves accolades as well.  Both do a tremendous job in the film.

The one bone that I will pick with the movie is the overall message that gets portrayed to the audience.  This is not a 'happy story', and many worse movies have been made using a similar storyline, with dramatically different outcomes at the end.  In an effort to appeal to a more discerning audience, we get an ending that does everything but tie a pretty red bow onto the screen for us. 

While I don't believe that the film has any shot of winning the Best Picture Oscar next week (and it shouldn't), I still highly recommend seeing this movie.  As Steve Carell was humorously corrected at the Golden Globes a month ago, this isn't a movie about a couple of lesbians, it's a movie about a lesbian couple, that is filled with real life issues, and contains a couple of tremendous acting performances.  Excellent movie, 4 out of 5 stars.