Oisin Gregorian writes.
In any modern family, no one is perfect. The same even goes for those on the fictional big screen. It doesn’t matter if the parents are heterosexual or homosexual. In The Kids are Alright, the situation just happens to be the latter.
For partners Nic and Jules (Bening, Moore), life is just fine. They are a married lesbian couple living in a cosy neighbourhood and are proud parents of two teenage children, of whom anyone would be proud of. Dr. Nic is the rule maker and the obvious controller of the house. Jules appears to be more laid back of the two yet she craves to escape the house and make a start on her own career.
Joni (Wasikowska), is an intelligent 17-year-old and is preparing to fly the nest for college. Her half brother, the quirky named, Laser (Hutcherson) is your sterotypically depicted American teen-sporty and “cool”.
Living in a family with two mothers does of course bring in the question of the lack of a father figure. Laser is first to attempt an answer when he confines in Joni that he would like to meet their biological father, or sperm donor to be precise
Their father is indeed found. Paul (Ruffalo) is your typical, hip bachelor who is easy going. He enjoys his life as a restaurateur and proudly roars around on his motorcycle. He knows he is cool, Laser and Joni think so too. To Nic and Jules, he is the disrupter to the natural order as the kids do seem attracted to his footloose lifestyle, which is quite a contrast to that found at home.
Writer and Director Lisa Cholodenko along with Stuart Blumberg have produced a well-written and charming script that produces not only produces laughs but real modern-day family trials and tribulations. Ruffalo is in fine form as the footloose Paul and is a certain crowd pleaser.
Cholodenko and Blumberg also bring out the best in Bening and Moore who have together, to our pleasure, produced some of their strongest work in recent years.
The Kids are Alright is highly recommended for those who want a quiet, yet satisfying night out and is in cinemas nationwide.
