Film Review: THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010)

Co-Writer/Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Running time: 106 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Drama
UK Release date: 29^th October 2010

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 25^th September 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Ok, I had better make it clear from the start that this film does not feature the rock band ‘The Who’… They did a film with a similar title back in 1979 so I didn’t want there to be any confusion from the start. This, on the other hand is about a lesbian couple with two children… more or less the opposite of ‘The Who’ really. But to be serious for a moment, this film gained quite a lot of critical praise when it came out and so I thought I might give it a look. Although it’s not my usual fare, I did find it quite interesting up to a point, but it kind of ran out of steam towards the end (IMO). More of my thoughts after this brief summary.

A lesbian couple, Jules and Nic had two children by artificial insemination. They are a boy, Laser (now 15) and a girl, Joni (now 18). Joni is about to move away to college and Laser asks her, being of age, to get in touch with the sperm donor that was used to conceive them. She agrees and they make contact with restaurant owner Paul who also happens to grow a lot of organic food as well. They meet and, after a faltering start, eventually get on quite well together. The kids tell their moms and Paul eventually meets them. The film then goes on to explore the effect Paul has on the lives of the members of this rather unusual family. Not wishing to enrage the Spoiler Police (lesbian division) I will end my brief summary here.

A well made film without any spectacular cinematography or music, this film is more of a character study than anything else. A lot of the critical praise was aimed at the performances and I can see why; both Julianne Moore as Jules and Annette Bening as Nic did a brilliant job! I thought Mark Ruffalo as Paul was also very good, but I was most impressed with the kids. Both Mia Wasikowska as Joni and Josh Hutcherson as Laser were great. It was so refreshing to see a couple of young characters that were not the greedy teenage morons we usually gets stuck with.

As I hinted at the beginning, the film does kind of lose a bit of steam towards the end but that’s not to say it was all bad. There were a couple of laughs along the way, but I did find it quite a serious piece. For all the great performances I was surprised that it didn’t have the emotional impact that I’m sure the filmmakers wanted it to have. Nicely paced with an interesting plot (for the most part) it did keep me entertained for much of the time, but ultimately lost it in the end. I’m going to deem it recommended (just) despite this.

My Score: 6.4/10.

IMDb Score: 7.2/10 (based on 36,349 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0842926/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94/100 (based on 204 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10012141-kids_are_all_right/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Laser: Why did you donate your sperm?
Paul: Because it seemed more fun than donating blood.

Jules: I wish you were gay; you'd be much more sensitive.

LINKS:
Official Site: http://filminfocus.com/the_kids_are_all_right
Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheKidsAreAllRight
Trailer:

Film Review: ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)

Director: Tim Burton
Running time: 105 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

UK release date: 5th March 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 1st January 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have never seen the 1951 Disney animated feature which tells the story of Alice’s first trip to Wonderland. You see, she has grown up now and this film tells the story of her second set of adventures in Wonderland. I’ll give you a brief summary before I tell you my thoughts (summary haters please tell me why A Raven is like a Writing Desk… It’s been bothering me all day…).

Alice is now nineteen and it has been arranged that she shall marry Hamish, the son of a Lord, but she is not really interested in marriage. It is decided that he will propose to her publicly at a party thrown by his family. The unpretentious Alice is distracted as the big moment arrives and finds herself compelled to follow a white rabbit just as he comes out with the words. As you might guess, the rabbit disappears down a hole and is soon followed by Alice. Having made herself the right size by drinking a potion, she enters Wonderland, a place that looks kind of familiar, but she can’t place from where. Here she meets many characters, including the Mad Hatter, The Cheshire Cat and the Red Queen. At first there is some debate as to whether she is the right Alice, and she has reservations herself. You see, if she is the right Alice, then she must perform a very heroic task and she’s not sure she’s up to doing that. I really don’t want to give it away, so I’ll leave Alice down the rabbit hole for now.

This is unmistakably a Tim Burton film. All the quirks and outlandishness that mark his style of filmmaking in abundance. It is beautifully made with great attention to detail. I saw the 2D version which, I’m told by those who know about these things, is better than the 3D cut. Great performances all round, particularly from; Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. I should also give honourable mentions to Crispin Glover as Stayne - Knave of Hearts, Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and the voice talents of; Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar, Barbara Windsor as the Dormouse, Paul Whitehouse as the March Hare and Timothy Spall as Bayard.

Although this film is beautifully made with some great performances, I found it ultimately unsatisfying. I think because I know the story quite well the awe and wonder of seeing it for the first time is lost and that detracts from the viewer’s enjoyment. There are some great comic moments and some truly magical scenes, but as a whole it kind of lacked something for me. It’s worth seeing, but I wouldn’t rush to buy the DVD… even so, recommended.

My score: 6.4/10

LINKS:
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/
Official Site: http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/aliceinwonderland/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi975438873/