THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT 3.0***





“The Kids Are All Right” is a family drama about two married women (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) who are married to each other… yes, a lesbian marriage. They have two teenage kids. One born to one of the woman and the other child born by the other woman. The sperm donor was the same man for both. The eldest daughter (Mia Wasikowska) has just turned eighteen, and is encouraged by her younger brother to contact the sperm donor who made it possible for their mothers to conceive them. Upon meeting the man (Mark Ruffalo), the already strained dynamics of the family are stressed further, as the two mothers are going through the typical problems that any married couple faces after being married for years, and the daughter prepares to go off to college.

The fact that the central couple of the story are lesbians does somewhat set “The Kids Are All Right” apart, but at its heart it's really just a movie about family and the relationships within the family unit. There's great acting all around, and the story never delves too deeply into sentimentality or sappiness. There are no bad guys, just a bunch of flawed people who don't always do the right thing.

The performances are outstanding and is really the reason to see this film. The story is average at best. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening act as if they really were a couple married for the past two decades. Every word that they utter, every facial expression, seems so natural and genuine. When they discover horrifying secrets, when they are torn apart, we are heartbroken with them; it's pure torture to watch them for fear of ourselves ending up a crying mess. Add to that Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as their children and Ruffalo as the sperm donor father and you've got one of the better family dramas,

Be forewarned though that this movie is rated “R” because there is a lot of graphic sex in this movie, both female to female and male to female… more than was necessary. And, yes, these scenes will be uncomfortable for many viewers to watch. But hey, as they say, this is Hollywood and that's the way they are out there …all in the name of art .

NOTE: From this movie the following Oscar nominations: Annette Bening for Best Actress; Mark Ruffalo for Best Male Supporting Role and the movie for Best Picture.

Clark