Today’s Prayer Focus
Oscar®Oscar® Nominee for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress in a leading role, and Best Actor in a supporting role

The Kids Are All Right

also known as “Une famille unique,” “Ta paidia einai entaxei”
MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use.
Moral Rating: Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Comedy Drama
Length: 1 hr. 46 min.
Year of Release: 2010
USA Release: January 25, 2010 (festival)
July 9, 2010 (limited)
July 30, 2010 (wide)
DVD: November 16, 2010
Copyright, Focus Featuresclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Focus Features
Lesbian Marriage

What does the Bible say about same sex marriages? Answer

LESBIAN—What’s wrong with being gay? Answer
Homosexual behavior versus the Bible: Are people born gay? Does homosexuality harm anyone? Is it anyone’s business? Are homosexual and heterosexual relationships equally valid?

What about gays and lesbians needs to change? Answer
It may not be what you think.

Can a gay or lesbian person go to heaven? Answer
If a homosexual accepts Jesus into his heart, but does not want to change his lifestyle, can he/she still go to Heaven?

What should be the attitude of the church toward homosexuals and homosexuality? Answer

Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality


EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR—Adultery in the Bible

Should I save sex for marriage? Answer

How far is too far? What are the guidelines for dating relationships? Answer

Fornication

MALE AND FEMALE NUDITY—Why are humans supposed to wear clothes? Answer

Drunkenness in the Bible

Watching a porn video

How can I tell if I’m getting addicted to pornography or sex? Answer

How can I deal with temptations? Answer


Couple in love. Photo copyrighted
TRUE LOVE—What is true love and how do you know when you have found it? Answer

Marriage in the Bible

Is formalized marriage becoming obsolete? Answer
Many people are convinced that traditional marriages don’t work and that this practice should be abandoned. What does the Bible say about marriage?

Sex, Love & Relationships
Learn how to make your love the best it can be. Discover biblical answers to questions about sex, marriage, sexual addictions, and more.
Teen Qs™—Christian Answers for teenagers
Teens! Have questions? Find answers in our popular TeenQs section. Get answers to your questions about life, dating and much more.
White male/black female sexual relationship

Is inter-ethnic marriage biblical?

What are the consequences of racial prejudice and false beliefs about the origin of races? Answer


Sin and the Bible

Fall of man to sin

sperm donor / artificial insemination

mother-son relationship

brother-sister relationship

Featuring Annette Bening (Nic), Julianne Moore (Jules), Mark Ruffalo (Paul), Mia Wasikowska (Joni), Josh Hutcherson (Laser), Joseph Stephens Jr. (Mailman), Yaya DaCosta (Tanya), Rachael Lee (Teen partygoer—uncredited), Kunal Sharma (Jai), Eddie Hassell (Clay), Zosia Mamet (Sasha), Joaquín Garrido (Luis), Rebecca Lawrence (Brooke), Lisa Eisner (Stella), Eric Eisner (Joel), Sasha Spielberg (Waify Girl), James MacDonald (Clay’s Dad), Margo Victor (Bartender), Amy Grabow (Pregnant Woman), Stuart Blumberg (Sous-chef)
Director Lisa Cholodenko
Producer Mandalay Vision, Saint Aire Production, 10th Hole Productions, Antidote Films, Artist International Management, Artist International, Gilbert Films, UGC PH, Charles E. Bush Jr., Gary Gilbert, J. Todd Harris, Philippe Hellmann, Jordan Horowitz, Neil Katz, Todd J. Labarowski, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Riva Marker, Camille Moreau, Joel Newton, Anne O'Shea, Celine Rattray, Laura Rosenthal, Andy Sawyer, Steven Saxton, Christy Scott Cashman, Ron Stein, Bergen Swanson, Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Distributor Distributor: Focus Features. Trademark logo.Focus Features, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal/Comcast

“Nic and Jules had the perfect family, until they met the man who made it all possible.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “A lesbian couple, Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore), live with their teenage children, Joni and Laser (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson), in a cozy craftsman bungalow in Los Angeles. As Joni prepares for college, her younger brother pesters her for a big favor-help him find their biological father. Against her better judgment, she makes a call to the sperm bank; the bank, in turn, calls Paul (Mark Ruffalo) and asks him if he’s willing to meet his daughter. He agrees, and a complicated new chapter begins for the family.

Nic, a physician, needs to wield what she believes is control, whereas Jules, under that control, is less self-assured. During their relationship, Jules has floundered in her ‘nine to five’ life, sometimes trying to start a business—always unsuccessfully—or being the stay at home mom. She is currently trying to start a landscape design business. They have two teen-aged children, Joni and Laser, Nic who is Joni’s biological mother, and Jules who is Laser’s biological mother. Although not exact replicas, each offspring does more closely resemble his/her biological mother in temperament. Joni and Laser are also half-siblings, having the same unknown sperm donor father. Shortly after Joni’s eighteenth birthday and shortly before she plans to leave the house and head off to college, Laser, only fifteen and underage to do so, pleads with her to try and contact their sperm donor father. Somewhat reluctantly, she does.

He is late thirty-something Paul, a co-op farmer and restaurateur. Despite his seemingly successful businesses, Paul has always shirked responsibility, most specifically in his personal life. After Joni and Laser meet with Paul, Nic and Jules learn what their children have done, and although they don’t want Paul infiltrating their lives, they want to meet him especially as Joni and Laser seem to want to maintain some sort of relationship with him. As Paul’s relationship with the entire family grows, which also includes him hiring Jules to design and construct his back yard, they have an effect on what he wants in life, and he in turn affects the family dynamic as well as each person’s relationships outside of the family.”

Editor’s Note: This film is not recommended. There are numerous issues of concern to Bible-believing Christian viewers—along with temptations of the eye and mind. This film is R-rated “for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use.” This extremely offensive movie attempts to make lesbianism and other abhorrent sexuality seem completely normal and is definitely one to avoid. A detailed description of many of its objectionable parts would not be appropriate for this page. Although most secular critics have given it gushing praise, we have noticed that many audience members have come away calling it very boring and offensive, and many theaters have declined to show it.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive

none

Negative
Negative—I started this movie thinking that I could look past the fact that it was about a lesbian couple and enjoy the rest of the movie. From the trailers it looked entertaining enough, and from the praise it had gotten from critics, I thought it sounded like a smart and original story. I was disappointed in every way.

The plot is shallow and boring; all the important points are shown in the trailer, there are no other twists or interesting details. Since it’s supposed to be a comedy, I expected it to have a lot more funny moments, but I only laughed once the entire movie. The acting was mediocre from most and completely poor from a few. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, who were both nominated for Golden Globes, were good, but not what I would call excellent and certainly not deserving of any major awards. I didn’t think they had much chemistry; their relationship just wasn’t believable. As much as I disagree with it morally, I’m sure two others could have done a better job with their characters.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** Besides just being unenjoyable, the film was also offensive in almost every way. To start with, it centers on a family raised by two lesbians. In the first ten minutes, the 15 year old son is shown using cocaine. There is only one lesbian sex scene, and it’s short and easily skipped (I was able to fast forward easily enough). There are, also, two other major sex scenes. Nic and Jules kiss a few times throughout the film. Jules and Paul have an affair, and even though she is already in a sinful relationship to begin with, I was still offended by this.

The language isn’t as heavy as may be expected for an R rating, about 10 F-words and other mild profanities are spread throughout. Overall, I didn’t find this movie deserving of my time or its many wins at the Golden Globes, and wouldn’t recommend it.

Even if you can stomach its moral flaws, it’s just not very entertaining.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
Linda, age 19 (USA)
Movie Critics
…“The Kids Are All Right” is messy without being rambling, usually funny without feeling scripted, sometimes sad without seeming sappy. It’s at turns hopeful and naïve and sorry and true. In other words, it’s a lot like life. …
William Goss, Orlando Weekly
…Warm “Kids Are All Right” approaches perfection… one of this summer’s most engaging films… probing, poignant and, above all, highly entertaining.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
…Moore and Bening are superb actors here, evoking a marriage of more than 20 years, and all of its shadings and secrets, idealism and compromise. … The film gives them convincing, intelligent dialogue, mannerisms that fit and children who, having been raised outside homophobic hysteria, are nice and well-adjusted. …
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
…graphic detail. …No one needs to be exposed to images of lesbian women having sex while watching gay porn in order to understand that families matter. No one needs to watch a lecherous man have rowdy sex with his lesbian conquest to figure out that infidelity is a sin. No one needs to listen to parents hurling obscenities at each other (when that affair surfaces) to grasp the important role honesty and forgiveness play in lifelong love.
Adam R. Holz, Plugged In
…full of exquisite family bumbling…
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
…The Kids Are All Right: The script, not so much… Somewhere around the halfway mark, the realization arrives with a dull thud: Turns out that unconventional families can be just as tedious in their melodramatic dysfunctions as any traditional clan. …
Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
…a thrillingly funny and casually profound film… The basic joke here, and it’s a rich one, is that the dynamics of gay marriages differ little from those of straight marriages. But that joke also serves as a catalyst for some startlingly beautiful considerations of age and youth, family values and, before and after everything else, the value of family. …
Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
…an ingratiating, sitcom-style entertainment whose genuinely stirring moments come rather late in the game. …
Rob Nelson, Variety