Reviews by Matt

There are times when watching a movie that you can smell a blatant attempt to garner an Oscar. The usually happens when an actor/actress plays someone with some sort of handicap, or the movie deals with the Holocaust. There are plenty of movies that wish to be more than they are and have high hopes for Oscar glory. Most of these fail miserably but some actually get the golden man on that glorious night in February. One movie that could go either way come Oscar time is “The Kids Are All Right.”

Two kids conceived via artificial insemination, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and Joni (Mia Wasikowska,) become curious as to whom their father is. When they being Paul (Mark Ruffalo) into their lives, the children’s mothers, Jules (Juilanne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) find themselves dealing with issues they never thought that they would.

I could not help but be disappointed in this movie. I like what it tried to do--show that even the most unconventional families have the same problems as everyone else. It just did not do it that effectively.

This is where reviewing movies is actually harder than it looks. There was something missing from this movie, but I cannot put my finger on it. When I walked out of the theater, I expected to feel differently, or more than I did. If I had to guess, it might be the resolution of the conflict. I felt like there should have been more to it that what it was. Please excuse the vagueness of that last sentence, I try to avoid spoilers as much as possible.

The movie it worth seeing, but I might wait until DVD to see it. The movie could have been worse. They could have tried harder to get an Oscar nomination. I enjoyed the performances and the overall story, but I just was expecting more.

7 out of 10
Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use
106 min