Film review: The kids are all right

Which is more than can be said about the adults in this subtle and grown-up modern family tale. Nic and Jules are a middle-class lesbian couple living in LA with their two teenage kids, both the products of the same sperm donor. Laidback Jules (Julianne Moore) has trouble settling to a career, and uptight Nic (Annette Bening) is prone to the odd red wine-fuelled rant, but they are basically happy – until the relaxed Californian family dynamic is shaken up by the arrival into their lives of Paul the sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo), whom the curious kids have traced.

The early encounters are awkward but genial. Paul is unfazed by the unconventional nature of the family he has sired – a motorbike-riding organic restaurateur, he is not the small-minded type. But as he starts to play a bigger part in the family’s lives, he unwittingly exposes the tensions beneath the surface: Nic’s control-freakery, Jules’ feelings of being judged by her partner, 18-year-old Joni’s (Mia Wasikowska) tricky transition to adulthood and 15-year-old son Laser’s (Josh Hutcherson) – they’re Californian, remember – lack of direction.

In the hands of a different filmmaker, the plot could have lent itself to stereotyping, slapstick or melodrama. But Lisa Cholodenko, who has first-hand experience of the set-up portrayed, has created a sensitive, charming film, with moments of humor, romance and pathos. All five main characters are beautifully drawn, real people with real people’s qualities, flaws and vulnerabilities (anybody who still thinks that gay people are freaks, or “different” from the rest of us, should see this film). As well as the script and direction, this is thanks to five pitch-perfect performances from the leads. Praise, awards and nominations have been heaped – quite deservedly – on this warm, witty movie. The Kids are All Right bulges with humanity and its many facets: love, family, aging, jealousy, insecurity, uncertainty, curiosity. And the themes are as relevant to a heterosexual couple living in a communist block in Bucharest as they are to LA lesbians.

Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko