The Kids Are Alright ☆☆☆☆

Never a truer title.

I've seen this film before but checking back through this blog I appear to have been remiss at reviewing it. Never mind, now having watched it again and enjoyed it just a much as I did the first time I feel justified with my rating.

The film follows a family of four, the Mums, Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) and the kids Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson). Joni is turning 18 and at the bequest of her younger brother opts to get in contact with the sperm donor who is both her and Laser's biological father. So the kids have the same dad but each of their Moms is actually their mother. Free spirited Jules is clearly Laser's mother, and Nic, a doctor, is crazy intelligent Joni's Mom.

The introduction of the sperm donor Paul (Mark Ruffalo) throws a significant spanner into the family unit, especially in the mind of Nic who is pretty hostile toward him at the start, but who does try as she sees her family warm to him.
The film follows how the family cope, knitting together with Paul becoming more involved as he tries to get to know his kids and becomes a little too friendly with Jules. I won't elaborate but suffice to say there are a fair few sex scenes.

What I really love about this film is how normal it seems. Okay so the kids have two Moms which you don't often see in mainstream movies but that doesn't stop them appearing like your average American family. One parent the breadwinner, the other has small projects but nothing in salary competition, and the kids are healthy and pretty well adjusted human beings. The characters are funny, sweet, infuriating, and sometimes a little idiotic. Nic and Jules' relationship sounds more like a teacher and pupil at times, and Jules' frustration is understandable as her ideas are met with criticism rather than encouragement.

Mark Ruffalo is brilliant as the bewildered sudden biological parent, I felt for him struggling in the wake of having two teenagers but also felt he was a supreme idiot. Paul comes into this family out of his depth, a total free spirit and complete charmer but starts to get ideas above his actual position - seeing himself as able to be a Father, not just sperm donor. He gets a little too excited about the idea of having a family, and here is a ready made one that he wants to claim as his own. Paul does support the children and Jules in a way that Nic has not been able to, cultivating Joni's interest in local foods and employing Jules in her first venture as a landscape gardener.

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are utterly natural as the two Moms of Laser and Joni. Nic takes on the paternal role while Jules is maternal, but both are frustrated by their self-imposed boxes. I have always loved Moore and she has such amazing comedic ability, while Bening I have only seen in serious roles and she brings that weight to the film.
Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre, Alice in Wonderland) is an extraordinary young actress, and she plays girl on cusp of adulthood very well as her character is about to leave home for the first time. Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) is also a talented actor and is believable as the boy who wants a Father, but is left disappointed by Paul who shares little in common with his son. They are both sensitive teenagers but incredibly grounded, having been loved and supported by two parents their whole lives.

The film is incredibly funny, the facial expressions alone caused me to giggle frequently. But more so it was the natural interactions, the teasing, the care, the arguments, that actually made me smile throughout the entire movie.
I've not seen any of director Lisa Cholodenko's previous work, either as writer or director, but her co-writer Stuart Blumberg is responsible for a couple of films I have greatly enjoyed, namely The Girl Next Door and Keeping the Faith. The easy humour of The Kids Are Alright is prevalent in the previously named movies, and it is what makes the films so successful with both audiences and critics as it is intelligent humour whilst also being totally natural.

What you come away with from this film is that the title absolutely sums it up, the kids are fine. They have been brought up by two mothers, met their sperm donor father, been disappointed in their parents, but are ultimately making the right decisions for themselves and growing in their own way.
This is such a funny film, I thought Ruffalo's Paul was a great character, so laid back he's horizontal but also meeting these kids sparks a need in him he thought was never there. Ultimately I think he kind of deserved what happened, but thats a personal opinion.
I was left with the thought that families are things to be worked at and can go wrong sometimes, but also can be a safe and stable environment no matter what happens as long as you are willing to put in the effort.