- This movie achieves the remarkable feat of taking what is supposed to be a controversial subject and making it into an unremarkable, average family drama like any other. I would suspect this is the entire point, except for the situations where I felt like the movie was patting itself on the back a little too hard for normalizing what so many people are inexplicably scared of. Julianne Moore’s monologue at the end definitely fell into the “trying too hard” category, but overall I liked that the omg-lesbian-moms angle was not commented on by any of the characters in the film because it’s so besides the point. Now that I’ve gone and pointed it out, it’s all rather moot. My work here is done.
- I don’t think I’m going out too far on a limb in saying that the kind of audience that would go see a movie about lesbian moms, their kids, and the sperm donor are probably not the kind of people who need convincing that homosexual parents are a-okay.
- I liked the line the film walked with the nature/nurture argument. Nic is Joni’s biological mother and Jules is Laser’s biological mother, but they did a good job of including characteristics of both parents in each of the kids. I thought that was a nice touch.
- Also, Laser. The kid’s name is Laser. LASER. I have a friend who named her cat Laser specifically because she loved the name Laser but you cannot name a child Laser. GUESS AGAIN!
- I think my favourite line was when Nic said “If I hear another person talk about how much they love heirloom tomatoes, I am going to kill myself.” I’m with you on that one, lady.
- I don’t really understand Jules’ motives for sleeping with Paul. Aside from the fact that random and casual infidelity never makes sense to me, period, I don’t see how feeling unappreciated at home means your next logical move is to sleep with your sperm donor.
- I guess I just didn’t really buy into Paul’s sexual involvement with Jules. I get his role as it relates to the kids and even as it relates to Nic and Jules as parents, but his relationship with Jules seemed unnecessary. Even though she still loves Nic and even that she’s not suddenly straight having slept with Paul, everything about their relationship just came across as being about dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, in the immortal words of Mr. Brown. Ladies need their body cavities filled by men or else they are unfulfilled! Paul comes in and disrupts their lives but adding this inexplicable subplot makes the movie more about him than is really necessary. It’s a movie about a family, not this interloper. Evidently it’s too much to ask for a movie featuring a lesbian couple to not involve a penis.
Even the sex scenes bear this out: Nic and Jules have sex at the start of the film with Jules completely covered under a blanket that Nic has drawn up to her chin, whereas Jules and Paul have extra naked sex in kama sutra poses in multiple scenes. I don’t think it’s hard to feel that one type of sex is being prioritized over the other.
- I kept waiting for them to play “The Kids Are Alright” by the Who over the end credits and sadly they did not. I have had this song in my head ALL DAY. Thank you for leaving me hanging, film.
The Kids Are All Right
You’ll be shocked to know that this movie was merely all right.
IMDB Plot Synopsis Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life.