DVD: The Kids Are All Right
The Kids Are All Right DVD Release Review
Review
The very, very best thing about this film is that it's not, repeat NOT about being gay. The central characters, Nic and Jules (note the androgynous names) are gay women, yes, but that's not the point at all. They're parents, they're married, and that's bloody hard work.
Nic and Jules have two children: Joni (named after folk croonstress Joni Mitchell) and Laser (named after God-knows-what). They are fantastically kind, normal teenagers, to the point that they make the bad behaviour of both their parents look pretty pathetic.
One sperm donor provided the jizz for the production of both Joni (whose mother is Nic) and Laser (whose mother is Jules), and when Joni turns 18, Laser's insistent that they get in contact with their biological father. He needs a MAN, man.
Conveniently (and highly implausibly) for all involved, daddy (Paul) turns out to live right round the corner. He loves organic, home-grown, salt of the earth hippy crap, and he has his own worthy-as-hell restaurant. Paul becomes involved in the family pretty fast, eventually becoming way too involved.
His attempts to build his own family from this close-knit unit bring Nic and Jules' troubled relationship to breaking point, and test every element of this utterly normal American family.
There's an especially good apology at one point, which made Itchy cry like a pathetic little wimp. This film is likely to make you cry too, you know. But it's also likely to make you smile. Which is always fun.
The Kids Are All Right is out on 21st March.
