by Teresa Gubbins

Atypical family with lesbian moms hits a bumpy patch, recovers.

The Kids Are All Right

Although the title is a bit of a cheat, The Kids Are All Right is a sweet film about an atypical family by director Lisa Cholodenko, of lauded films such as High Art and Laurel Canyon, that's elevated by her exceptional rendering of the film's two lesbian moms, played by Annette Benning and Julianne Moore.

Cholodenko's insight into their psyche is self-aware and humorous, and provides some of the film's brightest moments. She also shows a sensitivity to the anguish of life as a teen, as embodied by the couple's two teen children, Joni and Laser (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson).

Where the movie stumbles is in plot, particularly the role of Paul, the sperm donor who fathered the two children. Played with casual grace by Mark Ruffalo, Paul functions as a convenient device to send the family through an emotional tumble, so they can emerge with a renewed appreciation for each other and a feel-good ending.

But the dismissive way he's treated and the non-credible emotional leaps he's expected to make erode the warm fuzzies Cholodenko works so hard to create. Once the moms and the kids have satisfied their curiosity and used him to help solve their own various quandaries, the film tosses him aside with a harshness that's cold and unsympathetic.

That's a big flaw, but not a tragic one; it makes the film fun to think about. And it remains a satisfying viewing thanks not only to its quirky characters, but to its California milieu and indie tone. In classic indie style, the film's actions and words are sometimes left nebulous and unresolved, giving the viewer plenty of space to interpret and connect.

The plight of teenage son Laser is especially moving. His desperate desire for a proper male role model is nearly heart-breaking, and is the driving force behind getting the family to re-connect with Paul. The first meeting between the two men is touchingly painful when it becomes apparent that, temperamentally, they are not alike. The awkwardness is the kind of thing you see in real life and it's a gift that the film refuses to candy-coat it.

Annette Bening's portrayal of Type A surgeon-breadwinner Nic is remarkable and complex. The dynamic between her and the rest of the family is loaded with completely understandable emotional baggage, and she does a fierce job conveying every nuance. It also establishes the film's central theme -- that, despite the fact that there are two moms, the family is as normal as any other. When she makes a disturbing discovery about Paul during a festive dinner, instead of going ballistic, she turns quiet, and it's an intensely vivid piece of filmmaking: Nearly all of the sound is eliminated, save tiny gestures such as Bening's sip of her wine. How artful of Cholodenko to make a sound vacuum such a powerful thing; it's like watching a tornado inside a person.

But the funniest parts are when she depicts the day-to-day uber-neurosis of Bening and Moore, such as the scene that can be seen in the film's trailer when Laser walks by and the two women, sitting together on the couch, both cry out, "Hugs! Hugs!" The scene where they clearly expect him to reveal that he's gay, and he doesn't, is great.

But the title, a glib appropriation of the Who song, comes off as facile. What really matters to the filmmakers is how the parents are, not the kids.