Tout va bien! The Kids Are All Right

It's unavoidable to compare. We're at the beginning of the world our grandchildren are going to take for granted. But now, we compare and realize that family is by choice or design a place, a state of mind, in which love does or must flourish. Beautifully told with a sensational performance by Annette Bening. Without preaching or candy coating the story we realize that the future has a chance. Two women, one sperm donor and two children. Why not? We see the results on the children's faces. Mia Wasikowska is the daughter. Smart, compassionate, mature beyond her years. Josh Hutcherson is the son and, although he is the least developed character, I loved him, with his lopsided smile and his healthy curiosity. Mark Ruffalo, wonderful, showing us, as the sperm donor, another face of a character he has a monopoly in, the lovable loser. He is terrific! Julianne Moore is still an actress I find very hard to surrender to. Her acting is so much upfront that it takes you out of the truth she's trying to convey. However I loved the film and I only hope Hillary Swank is not nominated next year so Annette Bening finally gets what she so richly deserves.

'THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

This indie critical darling is one of the best reviewed movies of the year and up until the climax I thought it was a pretty impressive little film. It is a well acted and realistic character study though with the likes of Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hutcherson and 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND's Mia Wasikowska. It's directed and co-written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg (who also wrote 'KEEPING THE FAITH' and co-wrote 'THE GIRL NEXT DOOR', which I'm a big fan of both). The acting is all impressive, especially Ruffalo and Bening. Moore is good but she's been much better, maybe it's just the character she's playing here that doesn't give her as much to work with. The directing is adequate and fitting to the material and the screenplay is full of natural and believable characters and dialog. Even the ending, which I didn't like, seems believable it's just that it turns the film into a much less valuable learning lesson.

The film tells the story of Joni (Wasikowska) and Laser (Hutcherson) a brother and sister conceived through artificial insemination by their unhappy mothers Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore). Joni is Nic's biological daughter and Laser is Jule's biological son and they were both conceived from the same sperm donor Paul (Ruffalo). On her eighteenth birthday, when she's legally able to do so without the consent of her mother, Joni contacts her biological father and she and Laser meet him secretly. Later their mothers find out about this and before allowing them to see him again demand to meet him as well. Nic, the controlling working mother, is very upset by the sudden involvement of Paul in her children lives but Jules (who has mostly been a stay at home mom) warms to him after he hires her to design and construct his back yard. Paul is a free spirited, fun loving co-op farmer and restaurant owner. This clashes with Nic but the rest of the family enjoys spending time with him and he really learns to love them as well. Complications arise.

I was really fascinated by all of the characters and learned to really like them, all except for maybe Nic who was just a little to controlling and self righteous (but believable). Paul to me was the most relate-able and likable character and the story and growth of all of the characters kind of revolve around him. Without giving away too much the movie ends in conflict and one of the characters is sort of used and abused and left with a lot of unfair judgment placed upon him. It is realistic and believable though it just seems like the movie is making heroes out of the wrong characters and villains out of others, that don't deserve it. This left me very much disappointed in the movie as a whole and that's why I can't overwhelmingly recommend it.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOOi1HDSXyA

The Kids Are All Right is yet another dramedy about a dysfunctional family, but it is still an excellent film with a great script and performances.

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are excellent. Both are extremely versatile, and both flawed, but they play their characters with true respect for the script. Mark Ruffalo is also a nice addition, but If I had to choose the best, it would be Bening, simply because she has the most to play with. There is a great scene where she finally warms up to Ruffalo's character and starts her own rendition of one of her favorite songs in the dinner table. The best scene in the film, perfectly executed, and Bening certainly deserves an Oscar nomination for that scene alone. Mia Wasikowska also proves that she is a great talent to behold for the future. The ending is great, really touching and it rings especially with me because I am close to leaving for college next year as well.

Overall, I regret not having seen this sooner, and it is definitely worth accolades for the script and performances.

In Los Angeles, the lesbians Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nicole "Nic" (Annette Bening) are mothers of the eighteen year-old Joni Mitchell (Mia Wasikowska) and fifteen year-old Laser (Josh Hutcherson) that have been conceived by the same sperm donor for the artificial insemination. Nic is a doctor; Jules is a housewife graduated in architecture and has just started a gardening business but she is not supported by Nic and has no clients; Joni has joined the college; and Laser is in high-school. Out of the blue, Joni decides to seek out her biological father and she finds Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who is a businessman with a restaurant and a nontrangenic plantation. After the first encounter, they invite Paul to have dinner with their family and Paul hires Jules to transform his back garden. Paul gets close to Joni and Laser and has a love affair with Jules. He falls in love for her, but Jules still loves Nic. Meanwhile Nic feels that she is losing her authority with the children and is jealous of Paul. How will this triangle of love end?

"The Kids Are All Righta" is an original dramatic comedy (or comic drama) about an unconventional family that is deeply affected when the sperm donor is brought to them. The conclusion is realistic and without any concessions. The eternal beauty of Julianne Moore is another attraction of this little film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Minhas Mães e Meu Pai" ("My Mothers and My Father")

The movie follows a Nic and Jules, a middle-aged couple raising their two teenage children, Joni and Laser in suburban L.A. And everything seems to be going just fine until the moment Joni turns 18 and is convinced by her brother to reach out to their biological father. Hesitating at first, Joni eventually puts in a call to the sperm bank, who puts her in touch with Paul, a restaurant owner and all around "cool dude" who seems willing to meet the kids he never knew he had. As Paul arrives in their lives the family is thrown into disarray and sticky situations that threatens the stability of this already unusual family.

The Good: The acting is great with good chemistry between Nic and Jules. Well what else would you expect of Annette Benning and Julianne Moore and not to forget, Mark Ruffalo. And the younger actors (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) give believable and very good performances.

Also the films is very energetic and never really looses your attention.

The Bad: The Films stumbles around a bit not really knowing if it's a romantic comedy or a a family drama specially at the end but fortunately stays true to its core.