Fab Friday Review

Last week I went to see "The Kids Are All Right", and I have to say it was more than All Right. I thought it was fabulous. It was intelligently written, the acting was great, and it had the right balance between funny and serious for me. There are so many things I liked about the movie, I don't know, where to start. 

I was especially impressed by Mia Wasikowska, who played the daughter of Julianne Moore and Annette Bening. I'd say she's one of the up-and-coming young actresses to watch out for (she'll be Jane Eyre in the new movie coming out 2011). Vaccilating between defiance and vulnerability, her portrayal of an 18-year-old trying to assert her independence and still needing her family as a safe haven was very striking.

The movie itself was so refreshing because it did not try to force a message of equality and flout it's unconventionality and daring. Instead it is funny, sad, poignant, observant and realistic. It is about relationships, the strains of marriage, about love, hurt and betrayal, and how to deal with those and with each other in a relationship. Despite the title this is a film about and for grown-ups. It is a realistic protrayal of a relationship between a couple, who happen to be two gay women. The problems the two of them face in their marriage could happen to any couple, straight or gay. Thus the film was convential and unconvential at the same time. 

What made it stand out in my opinion is that there is no easy solution, that there is no good or bad, but instead shades of grey. That the characters were likeable even with their flaws, maybe because of them. It was realistic, because it showed that a relationship is hard work, and that you can end up hurting each other even though you love one another. That each family is unique but at the same time alike, trying to keep love and respect alive against the daily routine that threatens to swallow you up. 

Respect. That is one of the keywords of the movie. The respect, the members of that small family treated each other with, was really impressive. Not only the way both mothers treated their children, facing them as persons rather than subordinates. But also both protagonists, Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, were inspiring with their struggle to face each other with respect instead of succumbing into a downward spiral of accusations. By the way, both actresses were fabulous and I absolutely loved the fact, that they were not plastered with make-up to look as flawless as possible, but looked their age with every wrinkle and imperfection making them stunningly gorgeous. The way Bening's character deals with the betrayal of her partner reminded me very strongly of Emma Thompson in Love Actually. And not only because both are big Joni Mitchell fans. 

Paul Ruffalo as the carefree, sympathetic if somewhat unreliable biological father is also well worth seeing. His character is suddenly pulled out of his unconcerned and easy lifestyle by the sudden appearance of "his" two grown kids. Faced with his fatherhood, he starts to want the closeness the little family offers through making this "instant" family his own.

Everyone who hasn't seen the movie yet I highly recommend to do so.

If only to see him almost naked.

And those of you who have seen it, what do you think?

Happy December 10th.