In the midst of the bloated summer blockbuster season, The Kids Are All Right (in theaters 7/9) is the kind of movie that should make you rejoice: Impeccably written, with outstanding performances, it is funny and poignant and entirely entertaining.
Julianne Moore and Annette Bening play married couple Jules and Nic, who each gave birth to children aided by the same donor sperm. Their daughter (Mia Wasikowska), at the urging of her younger brother (Josh Hutcherson), makes contact with the kids’ biological dad, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). And then…just wait, as interpersonal family relations get more and more tangled. It would have been easy for this movie to teeter into silliness, but thanks to the fine direction of Lisa Cholodenko (who co-wrote the script with Stuart Blumberg), The Kids Are All Right stays the course and takes an honest look at one family full of complicated people who take on more complications.
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