If there's one film I've really soured upon over the last several months, it's been Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right, the well-publicized smash-hit out of Sundance and a sure-fire lock for one of the ten Best Picture slots this January. I originally gave the film a B- back in July, but dare I say I might have been far too forgiving.-
Now the film is very sprightly amusing and masterfully acted by all involved - there's no denying that for the first 60-70 minutes or so that you're watching a top-shelf entertainment that's about relatable, fully-formed and authentic characters that each have their good and bad moments.
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But alas, I was absolutely appalled by the last ten-fifteen minutes or so in which, yes, Mark Ruffalo's earthy, vegetable-growing biological father is just kicked to the curb so that Choldoenko's timely, liberal-minded message can take center stage. (By the way, the film's politics are not the issue - I agree with them - it just seemed drastically short-sighted and self-indulgent in those final scenes.)
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That scene has been kicked around quite a bit around the blog-o-sphere since it's release over the summer, and I'm certainly not the only person who feels this way. Nominate the performances all you want, nominate Mark Ruffalo, please - but this is a lame duck.
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But can we blame the movie because the actions of the characters seem reprehensible. True it seems weird when they drop him, but considering the characters do we expect any less (or more) from them. It seems discordant in a superficial way, but is that the fault of the movie or the fault of the people in it?
ReplyDeleteI think that argument has some validity to it and I'm not insinuating that the actions of the last third go against human nature or common sense or those characters motivations, but it angered me deeply as a male and I think that's a common thread amongst people who feel this way.
ReplyDeleteAh, now I get you. Sort of like they're perpetuating the stereotype that a man like Paul could never be a good father (or person for that matter?) For me I think that way he gets expelled from the narrative is an indication of the shortcomings of Nic and Joni and to a lesser extent to Jules. Nic is decidedly threatened by him and decides to judge him on his physical persona - the rock badboy instead of seeing that he's just sort of crying out for help. He's a sort of freakish man-child that hasn't quite reached maturity. I'm not sure if Choledenko agrees with Joni's assessment at the end that he should have been better, if she does I think she's wrong because you'd expect that they'd be better to him.
ReplyDeleteEither way, definitely something to chew on...