CheekyChicago

Tolstoy said happily families are all alike. In the new film The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenko and co-written with Stuart Blumberg, the family is refreshingly different. Yes, there are two moms and a missing sperm donor dad, but the strength of the movie doesn’t rest on what could be a comic cliché. Instead, it’s a complex, emotionally resonant and realistic depiction of a modern family grappling with traditional issues.

Nic, in an award-worthy performance by Annette Bening, is a successful doctor married to her partner Jules, a stay-at-home mom struggling to launch a landscaping business. Julianne Moore doesn’t simply portray Jules; she disappears into the skin of a middle-aged woman searching for a professional life and wrestling with her personal one. It’s incredible to watch two established actresses believably play a married same-sex couple with chemistry and credibility. Academy…take note.

Nic and Jules’ teenage children, Joni and Laser, are coping with their own transitions. Joni is on the verge of leaving for college, the dutiful daughter who bends to Nic’s will and has yet to assert her own. Lacking a father figure, Laser spends time with a delinquent friend, the prototypical bad boy who earns the disapproval of his “moms.” When Laser asks Joni to help him find their biological dad, the delicate family dynamic is immediately and irrevocably changed. Paul (Mark Ruffalo), a free-spirited restaurateur with a Peter Pan complex, is far from a paternal figure, but he gradually forges relationships with everyone except Nic. He hires Jules to design and plant his backyard and tries to connect with Laser and Joni. Without revealing the extent of his involvement in the family, it becomes a morally tangled mess with a painful emotional aftermath.

While the physical scope of the movie is small – primarily shot in a few locations and traveling between kitchens, bedrooms and backyards – the emotional range surpasses most big budget films. The story vacillates from sarcastic humor to teary arguments to fiery confrontations without feeling contrived. Bening, Moore and Ruffalo are actors at the top of their game, aided by a smartly written script with richly developed characters. Watch for Mia Wasikowska (Joni) as a rising young star. In a cast full of heavyweights, she holds her own with a face that speaks volumes and authenticity on-screen.

The Kids Are All Right won’t necessarily be a blockbuster and the only special effects are the stellar performances. But in a summer of loud, dumb and often unoriginal flicks, it’s refreshing to celebrate a movie that tells a compelling story based on a subject with personal meaning. Family.