The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Now this is my kind of comedy. “The Kids Are All Right” is not for children, nor for those scared by sex and naughty situations, or wholly un-P.C. humor. There’s a balancing drama of real-life hard-knock situations. It’s also perfectly human, real. This isn't a Hollywood product line.

The story: Annette Bening is a workaholic/alcoholic surgeon married to Julianne Moore’s wavering entrepreneur, recently settled on a landscaping career. The women have two teen children, each fumbling their way to adulthood, making mistakes and correcting course. Did you notice the marriage is between women? Yes, lesbians. That’s the kick of this film. The gay factor is no big deal, a mere shrug. It’s life, a family, in all its insane drama and glory. The teens (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) drop the term “Moms” as any teen would sigh about their nosey straight parents.

The action takes off when the teens make contact with their sperm donor dad (Mark Ruffalo), an earthy, lefty restaurant owner with a carefree spirit and one hell of a libido. It’s a beautiful film, wonderfully alive, and I fell it for hook, line and sinker. Not giving anything away, there’s a whole set of scenes with Moore, Ruffalo and a Hispanic gardener that is just some of the best work and writing and acting I’ve seen all year: Crazy awkward laugh-out-loud humor. Lisa Cholodenko is the director/co-writer. May she have a long career.

Bening is amazing, regal; Moore is perfectly flawed and so damn alive, and Ruffalo rules as a man in a unimagined spot. A guy who only cared about what was in front of his, umm, manhood, now suddenly a dad, in love with his children. He’s nothing short of brilliant. Ditto the teens. Hell, the cast is perfect. OK? Just like the writing. And the language, the words used throughout. One of the year’s best. Even the title is smart. A