THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT – Sundance Movie Review

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THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT will appeal to anyone who likes a good family drama. The movie follows the story of a couple, Nic (Annette Benning) and Jules (Julianne Moore), who live with their two adopted teenage children, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), in Los Angeles. Joni is getting ready to go to college, but before she leaves her brother wants her to do him one last favor, he wants her to help him find their biological father. Said father turns out to be Paul (Mark Ruffalo), an organic restaurant owner, who turns their lives upside down.

First of all, I want to say that I really enjoyed the film, it was an original story and kept me entertained. That said, there were parts of the story that were a bit unbelievable, but it didn’t really bother me that much because the movie had so many other positive things going for it.

Mark Ruffalo was probably my favorite of the movie. He made Paul so likeable that you were rooting for him even when you knew he wasn’t totally right. On the other hand, I had a hard time relating or even like the character of Nic played by Annette Benning. There is just something that irked me about the character and the way she related to her wife and children. Julianne Moore was great as Jules, which I’m sure is not surprising. And Mia Wasikowska (whom you will soon see in Alice in Wonderland) and Josh Hutcherson both did a good job as well playing the children trying to figure out where they come from and how they fit into this new family dynamic.

The movie has a good pace and some funny and powerful moments. And I think that if you’re a fan of family drama, you will find this one to be a bit surprising but very compelling. It illustrates the complexities that come with having children through donor sperm in a truthful but also amusing way, and I think that’s the strength of The Kids Are All Right. So if you get the chance, you should check it out when it comes out to theaters on July 7, 2010.