Lisa Cholodenko’s critically acclaimed 2010 film The Kids Are All Right shows that the rawest of human emotions cannot be limited to age, race, gender, disability, social status, or, as is the case in this movie, sexual orientation. In this movie, Nic (Annette Bening – American Beauty, Being Julia) and Jules (Julianne Moore – Still Alice, Far From Heaven) are lifelong partners, raising two children with the same sperm donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher, Spotlight). Joni (Mia Wasikowska – Alice in Wonderland, Crimson Peak) is the 18-year-old daughter whom Nic carried while Jules is the birth mother of 15-year-old son Laser (Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games, Journey to the Center of the Earth).
Category Archives: Comedy
Love & Other Drugs (2010)
The 2010’s Love & and Other Drugs trailer makes it seem like the movie is a romantic comedy. In actuality, that could not be further from the truth. While there is quite a bit of romance and lots and lots of humor, the movie is far more profound and dramatic than I could have imagined. No purely romantic comedy can take you through the range of emotions that Love & Other Drugs will take you through. This movie slipped under the radar, earning just $32 million at the box office. Referred to more as “that movie that has Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Brothers) and Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married, Interstellar) naked the whole time,” it was more than it was anything else. I saw the movie for two reasons. The first was that I was intrigued by the buzz surrounding this movie’s release date.
Up In The Air (2009)
The trailers for Jason Reitman’s (Juno, Thank You For Smoking) 2009 heavy-hitting dramedy Up In The Air make it seem like any corny romance, comedy, drama movie blend we’ve seen 100 times before. The trailer made me wonder what George Clooney (Michael Clayton, Oceans 11) was thinking about agreeing to make what I perceived as One Fine Day Part II. This movie had all the makings for a character so disconnected from the world, only to realize three-quarters of the way through that what they thought they never needed was what they felt they needed the most.
The Door in the Floor (2004)
Sometimes, life doesn’t go as planned, and sometimes, we have to find ways to deal with these events, which is the theme of the drama/comedy The Door In The Floor (2004). Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart, True Grit) and Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) are at the top of their game as parents who have fallen out of love with each other following the deaths of their teenage sons. Tod Williams effectively adapts the first third of the John Irving novel “A Widow For One Year” in his directorial debut.
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
The opening scene of Christine Jeffs’ (Sylvia, Rain) 2008 Sunshine Cleaning shows a man purchasing a shotgun at a gun shop and proceeding to blow his head off by reaching into his pocket and pulling out a shell that he brought into the store. Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn, Sahara) plays police detective Mac, who, after ending his investigation into a suicide, meets the crime scene cleanup crew and learns about the above-average wages this profession offers. Rose Norkowski, played by a convincingly good Amy Adams (Doubt, The Fighter), is Mac’s mistress.