A few weeks ago Elton John became a dad with his long time partner via surrogate, Ricky Martin who “came out” last year played on the beach with his adorable twin boys also born via surrogate, and the stunningly pretty Amber Heard who will be starring as Johnny Depp’s love interest in the Rum Diary came out as a lesbian.Celebrities splashing their sexual preferences around can be both annoying but also carry the positive effect of increasing the public’s level of acceptance of what is considered as the generally recognised “norm.” Gone are the days when poor Rock Hudson who symbolised virile masculinity, had to fake marriages and affairs to hide his homosexuality.
Lisa Cholodenko’s film The Kids Are Alright is one of the most funny, touching, entertaining, well acted and directed movies to have been recently made.
The film starts with the idea that gay marriages are an accepted fact and part and parcel of today’s society. In fact the family is absolutely normal. They live in a lovely suburban house, with a nice car. One parent works long hours to pay the bills and is the disciplinarian and the other, softer and more relaxed, stays home to look after the children. They have been together a long time and their life has grown into somewhat of a routine, sounds familiar? Just the story of any couple who has lived under the same roof for two decades.
The kids in the story will never be discriminated for having two mums and are normal teenagers going through the same issues if born to a heterosexual couple. Nic (Annette Bening) a doctor and Jules who once studied to be an architect and is just starting a landscaping business (Julianna Moore) have been together for more than 18 years. They have each carried a child fathered by the same sperm donor. Joni (Mia Wasikowska), who is Nic’s daughter is a straight A student and just about to leave for college on a scholarship, and her younger brother, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) is Jules’s son. He is 15 years old and often looks with envy at his (loser) best friend Clay’s interaction with his father. One day, he asks Joni to find out the name of their donor who turns out to be Paul ( Mark Ruffalo), a trendy restaurant owner and organic farmer.
The three of them meet at Paul’s restaurant with Joni being more impressed with his charm and bohemian lifestyle than Laser. Ruffalo, I have to admit is probably giving one of his best performances in a while. Intensely likeable and cool, he copes quite well with the initial shock of seeing two grown children standing in front of him and okay let’s cut him some slack even though he does blurt out an embarrassing “I love lesbians!” when he hears that he has fathered two kids to a gay couple. The man is going through some unexpected life changes, who wouldn’t say a few wrong thing after all!?
Laser accidentally tells his two mums that they have met their donor and both Nic and Jules decide to go and talk to him and trouble begins at that very moment. Initially skeptical of Paul who is somewhat of an effortless seducer, he gradually charms them all except for Nic who sees her power and controlling habits slowly decrease. In a way her reaction is normal as she resents losing her position as her children’s confidante and the ones they turn to for advice. Joni spends more and more time with him and comes out of her shell, Laser stands up to his bullying friend; and to say too much would spoil the plot of a truly great movie which flows throughout its entire duration.
Laser accidentally tells his two mums that they have met their donor and both Nic and Jules decide to go and talk to him and trouble begins at that very moment. Initially skeptical of Paul who is somewhat of an effortless seducer, he gradually charms them all except for Nic who sees her power and controlling habits slowly decrease. In a way her reaction is normal as she resents losing her position as her children’s confidante and the ones they turn to for advice. Joni spends more and more time with him and comes out of her shell, Laser stands up to his bullying friend; and to say too much would spoil the plot of a truly great movie which flows throughout its entire duration.
The acting is flawless. Bening embraces middle age with great class; few actresses would have allowed close ups of the wrinkles that line her mouth and the corner of her sparkling eyes, and the ageless Julianne Moore is superb as the spouse feeling left out. The kids are equally wonderful and Mia Wasikowska who starred in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland radiates as Joni, a nice normal looking 18 year old nothing like the over sexualised teens shown in most American films and television serials.
The Kids Are Alright is a good film which has all the tools (good acting, great script and flawless filming of sunny California) to interest a mature audience.
The film is rated ‘R.’
The Sunday Leader - By Sumaya Samarasinghe
