The Kids Are Alright - Review

Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are Alright deserves credit for a few things, not the least of which is that it treats gay marriage as a thing that exists even if it isn't legally recognized.  The lesson that Cholodenko should have learned was that this fact alone was not enough to propel a mediocre film to higher places.


Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) have been together for two decades.  During that time they have raised two children that they sired using donated sperm.  Shortly after Joni (Mia Wasikowska) turns 18, her 15 year old brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) talks her into contacting the donation bank to learn the identity of their biological father.  Meet Paul (Mark Ruffalo) a restaurant owner and one time sperm donor who will turn their world upside down.


Of course, Nic and Jules are reticent about inviting Paul into their lives and this tension begins to scratch the surface of a union that is already rocky.  Nic drinks too much.  Jules is flighty and doesn't have a regular job.  There are moments of cliched relationship criticism that are designed to not only draw attention to the issues of the connection between these two, but also remind us that marriage is hard.


Jules ends up having a fling with Paul.  It's not a question of her becoming interested in men, but she needs someone to have a connection with.  Here is where the film asks for narrative forgiveness because its set-up is so unique.  It doesn't work.  The first 30 minutes of the film do a very nice job establishing that this is a marriage like any other and when it begins to crumble under the weight of mistrust and infidelity it attempts to fall back on the crutch of their relationship's unique ingredients.  The problem is that it's difficult to care.


While Moore and Bening are perfectly fine in the film, there just isn't much there to work with.  These characters are simply not very engaging and the film plays like a lesbian retelling of a poor John Updike short story.  The kids are rebelling in the way that teens rebel against their parents whether they're black or white, gay or straight.  But it never goes anywhere.  No emotional wells are mined and no truth is ever revealed.


The Kids Are Alright just can't ever seem to make up its mind as to what it wants to grow up to be one day.  One moment it's two teens searching for a biological identity.  The next it's diving into the deep end of a lesbian marriage and a infidelity saga told like a low-level version of a Douglas Sirk melodrama.  It's a melange of good ideas and half-starts, but the film is lettered with disappointments, screw-ups and apologies that never seem to be truly honest.    Yes, marriage is hard no matter who is involved.  As it turns out, so is making a movie about it.