ALRIGHT

Really enjoyed Lisa Cholodenko’s THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010). Solid acting, interesting story and screenplay, really well directed.

This kind of film is often so concerned with its socio-political agenda (i.e. “Gay marriage is awesome!”) that it fails as cinema.

Don’t get me wrong…the marriage depicted in the film is most certainly idealized. A lesbian couple parenting two teenage children spawned from the same sperm donor? How many families tell that origin story?

And, I mean, every human in this film is extremely attractive…and ultimately, very reasonable.

But.

The film likes to jigger with the notes we expect it to aim for. It musses up the pretty far more than most studio-distributed romcoms. Not to mention, it doesn’t carry itself with a chip on its shoulder. Never becomes didactic or needlessly sentimental.

Is it weird that I feel so…grateful that last year’s tent pole “gay marriage” film came off so…fascinating?