At the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year there was quite a bit of fuss made about a movie called The Kids Are Alright.

The gay-themed dramedy became the target of a bidding war, eventually won out by Focus Films, who have scheduled a release date in the US for early July.  It’s the story of a lesbian couple whose twin son and daughter decide, after eighteen years, they want to meet their sperm donor father for the first time.  It’s a new ‘dysfunctional family of the millennium’ kind of tale written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, who was responsible for the brilliant Laurel Canyon from a couple of years back.

The reviews have been varied, some saying it was the single biggest hit of the entire festival, and others saying it’s little more than light-weight drivel, drawing comparisons to the Nancy Meyers snoozefest from last year, It’s Complicated.  There are some questionable choices from Cholondenko, an openly gay filmmaker, that has community groups up in arms (watch the online trailer for more about that) but overall it has to be said that this film looks like it might just be a bit of a corker.

The cast is stellar, with Annette Benning and Julianne Moore playing the parents, which perhaps is the single most inspired casting of the decade.  If you had to pick an actress to play your lesbian mother, surely these two would be top of the list, along with perhaps Meryl Streep or Laura Linney.

The gorgeous Mark Rufallo is the cool, irresponsible sperm-guy dad who, according to the reviews, plays perfectly for laughs against Benning’s stricter, more disciplined parent.

Another exciting addition to the cast is none other than Canberra gal, Mia Wasikowska, as the young daughter.

Mia is a Girls Grammar graduate who played the title role in the recent adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.  As well as the Tim Burton blockbuster, Mia also had a recurring role in the HBO series In Treatment in which she played a troubled teenager forced into a psychiatric evaluation after a suspected suicide attempt.  Her work on that was just outstanding and judging from her performance in this film, there’s no doubt she’s got a big future ahead of her.  Hard to believe that one day she’s just hanging out in Manuka or going shopping in Civic on a Friday night, and the next she’s playing the daughter of Hollywood heavyweights like Annette Benning and Julianne Moore.  It’s really the stuff dreams are made of, right?

The Kids Are Alright may not be to everyone’s tastes, and it might not meet everybody’s gay sensibilities, but the writing seems fresh and the performances look fantastic.  It’s not often that a film of this nature gets such mainstream treatment, and while it’s true most gay cinema (generally speaking) tends to be somewhat questionable, The Kids Are Alright looks like it just might be an exception to the rule.

Available on DVD