The Kids Are All Right
Starring the amazingly talented Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, the cast was rounded out with Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska (Alica In Wonderland) and last but certainly not least, Josh Hutcherson. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko (director of High Art & Laurel Canyon) who also co wrote “The Kids” with Stuart Blumberg.
Now listen, if you enjoy movies where the beauty lies in the relationships between the characters then this movie is definitely for you!
I have to admit, it was refreshing (to say the least) to have an unconventional story line, as Annette and Julianne play a lesbian couple married for 10+ years, that takes the audience on a very real roller coaster ride as they raise their two children played Josh and Mia, who are now of age and start questioning who their father is, so they contact him (Mark Ruffalo) without their moms knowing, hence the drama pursues.
When asked how this movie came about Lisa stated, “My partner and I wanted to start a family and so we had to figure out how to go about doing that so we decided to go with an anonymous sperm donor and that’s kinda a project in itself. Making that decision is a big decision which opened up this whole world. So that’s what was going on in my personal life. In the world of art, I noticed all these stories in the New York Times, on Oprah and 60 Minutes about sperm donor kids coming of age and finding their fathers and finding their half siblings and I thought there is so much material here. There’s a great story in here and I should pick around and find the “real” in that…the “funny” in that.”
Josh admitted watching such professionals as Annette and Julianne, was simply inspiring. “For me it was amazing how naturally they slipped into their characters. It was effortless, and that effortlessness is something I hope to bring to all my characters.” Julianne joked “They learned how to keep their lines on their hands!” “People always ask how do you prepare? Well, in independent film there is no preparation time, so the one thing Annette and I brought to this was the fact we both are in long term relationships and that’s what this film is about.”
She also admitted being a working mom hasn’t changed the way she chooses projects to work with as her views have remained strong.
“As actors, I’m sure people can relate it gives you tremendous amount of flexibility. So it might be uneven and unpredictable but there are many times when you don’t work, you are around for your children, then when you do work intensely you have to juggle things a bit, but I think this a benefit of what we do.”
“For me, the fact this movie is about a marriage, a long term marriage, is extremely significant.” THAT is something you don’t see often in movies. You don’t see people who have been together for 20 years and who are struggling and really working at it and that is extremely relevant to my life since I’ve been married for 15 years.” I thought, “What a really cool thing to explore. You’re left with such positivity about marriage.”
Without giving the story away, Julianne’s character; Jules, throws us a curve ball to where I can truly say I have a deeper appreciation on being committed in a relationship. You’ll know when you see it, there is a scene where Annette’s voice goes into her lower register, (which is one of the brilliant reasons why I LOVE Annette and her incredible choices as an actor), and you feel as she does-each and every emotion to your core.
With so many headlining stories about cheating husbands and divorce after 40 years in the news on the weekly, MOMZ IN THE MIX applauds Julianne for keeping her marriage as her priority as well as being an important and positive story line on the big screen.
Be sure to see “The Kids Are All Right”, you won’t be disappointed!
PS. I dare you to ask yourself when you leave the theatre, “WHO exactly are the kids?!”
Keywords: Annette Bening, celebrity moms, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Lisa Cholodenko, Mark Ruffalo, married lesbian couple story lines, Mia Wasikowska, Momz in the Mix, The Kids Are All Right
