The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko, 2010)

The Kids Are All Right is certainly well acted, subtly directed, the writing is sharp and focused, and it is overall engaging. But I couldn't help but be a little put off by the story's chosen trajectory, especially in the wake of numerous critics' lamentations about how, even though the parents here are both women, in the end, it's about "family." Because that's not entirely true. It's about a family facing a crisis, which is a different thing altogether. I suppose I was (naively) expecting more Cassavetes, less sensationalism and soap-operaish plotting and gloss. True, it's by no means a product of the branch of Hollywood that produced Transformers, but in ways aside from Annette Bening's involvement it reminded me of American Beauty, with its characters participating in a scandal that betrays their essence, and kind of deflates the whole thing.