Just rented this film from Blockbuster and watched it, in summary really good film with some great performances with just a few little niggles holding the film back from being perfect. I you want my full thoughts click on the jump.
The plot of the film is really effective for the gay marriage/adoption debate showing the lives of a lesbian couple Nic and Jules(Annette Benning and Julianne Moore) in the days before their daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska) goes of to university. Compounding the emotional stress is when their son Laser (Josh Hutcherson) wants Joni to get into contact with their sperm donor Paul (Mark Ruffalo) and the marriage starts to fall apart due to the influence of Paul. First of all the casting of Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as the children is great in terms of looks as Wasikowska has a similar face to Annette Benning (biological mother in the film) while Hutcherson looks a lot like Mark Ruffalo. The script in this film is pure gold with great dialogue, great conflict between Benning and Moore when Benning finds out about the relationship with Ruffalo and great humour with the dinner at Paul's house being the standout scene, especially when Benning and Ruffalo start singing Joni Mitchel. The performances by Benning, Moore and Ruffalo are great and Moore and Ruffalo have a great chemistry together on-screen. There are a few faults and unfortunately they all come down to Hutcherson and his sub-plot, not that there's anything wrong with the performance but Hutcherson looks too old to be playing a 15 year old although, as stated above with Hutcherson looking like Ruffalo I can see why they cast him. I also think that the sub-plot of Benning and Moore thinking Hutcherson is gay is a bit rushed and the end of the friendship with Clay feels a bit rushed as well. Still this is a great film with some great performances, a great script and a great strike in the film industry towards the rights of gay couples and the ending made me tear up a little, especially due to my sister going to uni two years ago making the scene a bit more personal to me. In short, when you can, watch The Kids Are All Right but be warned, do not watch it with parents it is really awkward.
My Rating: 4.5/5
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