The first trailer and poster have been unveiled for Lisa Chodolenko’s family dramedy, “The Kids Are All Right,” which took both the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals by storm earlier this year.
The film stars Annette Benning and Julianne Moore as same-sex parents whose world is turned upside down when their children (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) bring the sperm-donor father, played by Mark Ruffalo, back into their lives. Things evidently become increasingly complicated when one of the mothers (Moore) becomes involved with the donor, whose developing stature in the family causes troubles. The poster’s tagline probably says it best: “Nic and Jules had the perfect family, until they met the man who made it all possible.”
Backed by the eclectic mix of Vampire Weekend’s “Cousins,” Madness’ “Our House,” Julian Casablancas’ “Out Of The Blue,” the trailer shows a hearty, at times riotous and hilarious dramedy that may just live up to its immense hype.
Annette Benning and Julianne Moore have already been touted as early leaders in this year’s Best Actress race; Ruffalo looks at his usual best; while Wasikowska is probably glad her chance at redemption comes in the same year as the release of “Alice In Wonderland” — her turn in HBO’s “In Treatment” is astonishingly good and we’re expecting something along those lines here.
It remains to be seen how the film will fare at the box office, but it does look like Focus Features have picked up a gem here. Last year was relatively quiet for the Universal subsidary during award-season (“A Serious Man” and “Sin Nombre” being two of it’s better, under-appreciated picks) but with this, Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere,” Anton Corbijn’s “The American” and Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s “It’s Kind Of A Funny Story” on board, 2010 might be more fruitful.
“The Kids Are All Right” hits theaters July 7th.
