The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko, 2010)

I rarely watch movies directed by women. There are some exceptions of course (Catherine Breillat) but generally I avoid them since most of them are too sentimental or trying to surpass their male colleagues in masculinity just to prove some point (Kathryn Bigelow). But I remembered reading few good reviews of this one when it had came out and decided to give it a try when they showed it on RTE.

Glad I did, it's not bad at all. I always like to see the fresh take on Teorema premise about a stranger coming into the seemingly perfectly ordered surrounding and then fucking things up big time. This one is not exactly Killer Joe but still very original, smart and well made. I preferred the first part which plays out as a comedy and serves for the plot thickening. Then it goes into melodrama family type mode, but it's still okay and focused. Maybe just loses itself a bit because it tries to cover too many individual stories at the same time. I think movie would be far better without that younger kid.

The best thing about it is of course that it doesn't try to preach. Gay marriages are simply just marriages and they are just as complicated as straight ones. And having around teenagers and good looking horny guys with mid-life crisis doesn't make them any easier either.

Second best thing is its casting. They are all good individually and click well together as a ensemble but watching Annette Bening and Julianne Moore was just a privilege and total joy. So fucking cool! They are simply amazing and they manage to have special kind of chemistry that also manifests in a fact they are not trying to steal a movie from each other. Hard to say if this is due to Lisa Cholodenko's direction or due to their professionalism. Anyways, once again - great job from the entire cast. Gives the movie "feel good" tone and I got the impression that they were really having a good time shooting it.

My only objection is the happy ending which could and should be more radical (or at least more realistic). Let us just remind ourselves of a quote from one of the Hal Hartley's early masterpieces Trust: "Family is like a loaded gun: Aim it in the wrong direction, somebody is going to get hurt."

8/10