The Kids Are All Right

Lisa Cholodenko, 2010 (8.0*)
Best Musical or Comedy Film (GG)
So what's the deal with Julianne Moore and all the lesbian parts recently? ("not that there's anything wrong with that" - Seinfeld) She was naked and almost x-rated in Chloe, doing the naked girl-on-girl thing with doe-eyed Amanda Seyfried. Now, in Kids, she's the lesbian marriage partner of Annette Bening, and of course there's the obligatory makeout and simulated sex scenes.

Annette Bening steals this movie, and an Oscar® nomination for lead actress, in one of her best performances; she's the only one that doesn't seem to be acting, she's very natural. The others are just passable, including Oscar-nominee Mark Ruffalo (should be supporting not lead actor) as the sperm-donor dad for each of the women's children, one girl of 18 about to go off to college, and a son of 15, who wants to find his real genetic father.

What begins as an innocent tale of self-discovery gets serious when Moore and Ruffalo begin a lust-driven sexual affair. This sounds terrible, and is perhaps a little manipulative, but is really fairly engrossing thanks to the screenplay, the ensemble cast, and a terrific 'ready for cd' music soundtrack, with some unusual and surprisingly effective rock music.

Nominated for best picture of 2010, it's won just 3 awards out of 55 nominations so far, a couple were Golden Globes for best musical or comedy, and best actress in a comedy for Bening.

[Note: this was our 666th film review; I was gonna save it for 669, but figured no one would get it..]