And went out with a whimper. Unfortunate in a film where a controversial (at least in America) subject matter is presented.
The film is about a family, but a family with a twist as it is headed by a long married lesbian couple with two children from the same sperm donor. The performances by all are exceptionally good considering the limp script which meanders from focus to focus, from the son in search of a male father figure to the daughter who blossoms under the tutelage of the 'father' to the mother who proceeds to have an affair with said sperm donor to the other mother who balks and rages.
Too many confusing viewpoints in one film.
Annette Bening and Julianne Moore shine in this, working wonders with their lines. Mark Ruffalo is well cast also but at times his dialogues was buried, whether through poor sound quality or poor enunciation.
There is one outstanding scene with Bening at the dinner table where she slowly warms up to Paul's (Mark Ruffalo) character and starts to sing a Joni Mitchell number and they click. And then she goes to the bathroom and discovers a long hair of Jules' in the drain and she realizes what is going on. She comes back to the dinner table in an anguished fog, one can hear the blood thumping in her ears. She conveys all her skill as a consummate actress in that moment.
Mia Wasikowska, playing Joni, is splendid in a role that doesn't give her much to work with but she manages to portray a feistiness and vulnerability that was moving.
The script left a lot to be desired and it seemed like the writer(s) didn't know what to do with it either. They discarded one major character without a whimper and left us, the viewers, in a grey limbo.
And those gratuitous sex scenes? Less would have been a whole lot more. Added to a better script.
7 out of 10 for the actors.
The film is about a family, but a family with a twist as it is headed by a long married lesbian couple with two children from the same sperm donor. The performances by all are exceptionally good considering the limp script which meanders from focus to focus, from the son in search of a male father figure to the daughter who blossoms under the tutelage of the 'father' to the mother who proceeds to have an affair with said sperm donor to the other mother who balks and rages.
Too many confusing viewpoints in one film.
Annette Bening and Julianne Moore shine in this, working wonders with their lines. Mark Ruffalo is well cast also but at times his dialogues was buried, whether through poor sound quality or poor enunciation.
There is one outstanding scene with Bening at the dinner table where she slowly warms up to Paul's (Mark Ruffalo) character and starts to sing a Joni Mitchell number and they click. And then she goes to the bathroom and discovers a long hair of Jules' in the drain and she realizes what is going on. She comes back to the dinner table in an anguished fog, one can hear the blood thumping in her ears. She conveys all her skill as a consummate actress in that moment.
Mia Wasikowska, playing Joni, is splendid in a role that doesn't give her much to work with but she manages to portray a feistiness and vulnerability that was moving.
The script left a lot to be desired and it seemed like the writer(s) didn't know what to do with it either. They discarded one major character without a whimper and left us, the viewers, in a grey limbo.
And those gratuitous sex scenes? Less would have been a whole lot more. Added to a better script.
7 out of 10 for the actors.