On DVD: "The Kids Are All Right" and "The Town"

Recently I had the opportunity to watch two movies I wasn't able to see in theaters. "The Kids Are All Right" and "The Town" just came out on DVD and both are likely to be recognized in some capacity in the coming awards season. "Inception" also came out on DVD recently and you can click here to read my review of it and "Toy Story 3." Read ahead for my reviews of the other two.

"The Kids Are All Right"I have to say I was very disappointed by this movie. I really wanted it to be a clever, unique comment on family and conflict. If not for the hype, I might have liked it better, but the way professional critics are going on about it you'd think it was a much smarter, more dynamic film that it is. The basic premise is that the son and daughter of two lesbians search out their biological father and complications ensue. It's not so much a family drama like I expected as most of the focus turns away from the children and onto the adults and the odd decisions they make. I'm not talking about the odd decision of lesbians to watch gay male porn, which thoroughly confused me until Julianne Moore's character hilariously explained it. I'm not talking about the odd decision to name their son 'Laser.' I'm talking about something so integral to the plot that I can't properly discuss the movie unless I spoil it, so SPOILER ALERT if that bothers you. Julianne Moore's character starts sleeping with Mark Ruffalo's character. There's some half-assed explanation like 'she hasn't felt appreciated,' but really, it just struck me as ridiculously unrealistic. It fed into the tired belief that all lesbians are straight women led astray who just need a rugged man to snap them back to normal. She seems to really enjoy sleeping with him, physically not just emotionally, and she initiates the act herself a few times. Cheating on her wife because she doesn't feel appreciated could make sense, but why she runs into the arms of the newly arrived sperm donor father is perplexing and the movie lost me at that point. The emotional resolution, the scene where Moore gets to really shine, is considerably less powerful when the issue it's resolving never made sense to me in the first place.

The acting across the board is really good, but I didn't think that any of it was particularly Academy Award worthy. Moore and Annette Bening get to shine towards the end, but the moments are so short that I don't think it's enough for a nomination. Are we just pleased when people can actually act in movies these days? Or do we expect these two actresses to be great so we praise their solid performances as revolutionary? I would much prefer to see the two younger stars get recognition for their roles. Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson were much better than I expected and it was that much better because they weren't late 20-something actors playing young kids. I wish the movie had kept the focus on them more. For all the pains the movie goes through to show that this family has problems like everyone else, the big speech that solves everything (except Ruffalo's misery) clears away the complex family issues it tried to set up. Hutcherson's Laser is underdeveloped and issues of parenting and role models take backseat to the affair between Moore and Ruffalo.

All in all, I have to agree with the few other people who felt the same way I did - if this movie was about a heterosexual couple with adopted children who seek out their bioDad, would it really have gotten all this attention? The film felt like pure Oscar bait. It seems to fit in with the tendency of professional critics around this time to praise indie movies with high profile actors playing alternative characters. I have to be honest, aside from the nonsensical plot "twist," the movie isn't awful. It's enjoyable at times, but it's just not sheer brilliance. But I really think that critics like to praise "edgy" performances and a lot of times they get a little self-important. They like to recommend "serious" movies. Watching this movie I just felt like I was watching an attempt to say "lesbian families aren't perfect, they're just like yours! That's the point!" No, most families (of any kind) aren't perfect, but I really think a lot of the message gets lost when the motivation of characters' actions leading to the Big Conflict are unclear and make little sense.

My grade: C

"The Town"I'll admit that this one had a bias in favor of it coming in because I love crime dramas. But I've never been a big fan of Ben Affleck in starring roles so it kind of balanced things out. This was another interesting experience because I was expecting a more fast-paced, action-filled thriller than what I got. It had plenty of action, but it was smarter and quieter in an intense way that I came to enjoy. I worry that some might be disappointed because it could be too little romance for the female crowd and too little action for the male crowd. I hate to put it in black-and-white terms like that, but it does tend to skew that way and there's no way I can deny that. I do have to point out that the trailer is very misleading as it is edited to a very large degree. Dialogue is switched around and dialogue is added that I never heard in the actual movie. But it's still a movie that's worth your time.

I'm going to point out my favorite thing first - Jon Hamm. He is so great at playing a bastard that I relished his might-have-been cheesy action lines. He pulls off great badass lines like "this is the 'not fucking around crew.' Find me something that looks like a print so I can grab one of these assholes and shake their tree because this 'not fucking around thing' is about to go both ways!" Jeremy Renner as Jem is also fantastic as the explosive partner-in-crime of Ben Affleck's Doug. He's a fascinating character and I wish they had spent a little more time on the relationship between him and Affleck's character. He also has my favorite moment in the movie, where Doug walks into the room and tells him "I need your help. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people." Jem pauses for a second, then asks "whose car we gonna take?"

I also have to point out that while Ben Affleck is not my favorite actor, he's turning into a pretty good director. I hope he continues his career behind the camera. He handles the action scenes nicely and shoots Boston beautifully. That's my only concern about his future - how will he handle films outside of his turf? But I really did enjoy the action scenes here, especially the car chase with the police through narrow streets. Often when you get car chases like these they take place in European cities down narrow lanes so it was nice to see an American take. The robberies and the action pieces aren't huge, epic sequences. They're closed in, tightly directed, and they have a nice claustrophobic intensity to them where you feel like you're right there and about to get shot. Also, the heist crew isn't made of movie thieves who are high-tech criminal masterminds either. Like it's mentioned at the beginning of the movie, robbery is treated like another trade that these men have down pat.

SPOILER ALERT for the ending, because I'd like to address that as well. I was pleased with the ending, which didn't wrap everything up nicely in a bow. I was so afraid they were going to go cliche and have Claire run away with Doug where they would live off the money from the final heist in Florida. But no, Claire fights with her conscience and works with the FBI even after she realizes Doug isn't villain through-and-through but she also tries to warn him away from a trap. The ending isn't some fairy tale where she runs away with him for true love and all his criminal acts are forgiven because he has a heart of gold. The ending was melancholy but not completely depressing. I felt like these characters were actually adults. In lesser movies, especially romantic comedies, you get grown men and women acting like they're teenagers. But this movie has a more blurred sense of morality and takes a sober look at romance and I appreciated that. Especially after the bizarre romantic relationship in "The Kids Are All Right." I also enjoyed the mommy issues, which they didn't need to put in but it added some psychological depth to the characters and some insight into the blue-collar Boston lifestyle.

Overall, good movie. I would have liked a few more scenes between Renner and Affleck, but it was still well done. I enjoyed the more realistic, down-to-earth feel when I was expecting a bombastic, overblown action flick.

My grade: A