CITYist

The Kids Are All Right, the first mainstream feature from indie director Lisa Cholodenko, is getting rave reviews from nearly every media outlet. So you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that this review is a positive one. Walking into the film, we already expected to love it, for two reasons: we’re beyond obsessed with Cholodenko’s last effort, Laurel Canyon, and we’re wont to over-expose ourselves to trailers and reviews (and thus, the good vibes). Cholodenko has an almost supernatural ability to strike realistic dialogue and turn somewhat small, quiet and yet infinitely tangled human experiences into riveting character studies. With solid performances from Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Mia Wasikowska, there was really no way this film could fail.

This year, the Los Angeles Film Festival is a study in inclusion. There’s something for everyone: the witty family dramedy The Kids are All Right from indie queen Lisa Cholodenko, computer-animated Despicable Me representing the Pixar generation, Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly’s dark comedy, Cyrus, for those of the Apatow persuasion and, of course, the world premier of tween dreams, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. While we can’t say that LAFF has the pure recognition value of, say, Cannes, we think this roster might turn some heads—and tickets, on sale today, are sure to be a hot commodity.