Entertainment News
‘The Kids Are All Right’: Heartfelt comedy is an Oscar contender | 3 ½ stars
Posted:
08/01/2010 10:26 PM
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
They say that comedy is hard.And the hardest comedy of all arises from real human situations, without exaggeration, ironic self-awareness or physical silliness. By that criteria Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are All Right” is some sort of miracle, a comedy that perfectly balances natural hilarity with genuine drama while exploring a whole slew of issues.Issues like relationships, infidelity, parenthood, the search for one’s roots and the hard work of marital maintenance.As an added bonus, Cholodenko (“High Art”) and co-writer Stuart Blumberg examine all this through the prism of a very specific yet strangely universal family. Expect this film to be nominated for a number of Academy Awards.Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) have been together 20 years and are legally wed (presumably doing the deed during California’s brief recognition of gay marriage). Each woman has had a child by the same anonymous sperm donor.
