May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor.

However many years in the however distant future, North America has evolved (or devolved?) into the world of Panem, a society made up of 12 Districts ruled by a morally corrupt sadistic government based out of a place called simply The Capitol. To keep status quo, each year the Capitol organizes a televised event in which children fight to the death in an elaborately designed landscape arena. This event is known, of course, as “The Hunger Games.” Each District must offer up two “tributes,” a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18, to participate in the games. As our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, succinctly describes, “There are 24 of us. Only one comes out.”

Gary Ross’s film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ beloved book succeeds on almost all counts, in some cases exceeding expectations. It is clear from the first several frames that Ross expects his audience to understand the difference between reading about brutal violence on the page and seeing it on a big screen. When we are reading through the voice of Katniss Everdeen, it is easy to forget just how young these competitors are. However, in the film, when the horn blows for the games to begin and the audience is launched into a frenzied (eerily un-scored) montage of absolute carnage, we are reminded that this is nothing short of a horrific, disturbing ordeal in which there truly are no winners.

Jennifer Lawrence is commendable in her portrayal of District 12’s tribute, Katniss Everdeen. With a character who, in the novel often verges on tedium, Lawrence chooses to highlight Katniss’s discomfort with her sudden fame, making her both likable and mysterious. As her counterpart in the games and would-be love interest, Josh Hutcherson is sweet but supremely capable as Peeta Mellark. Peeta is a character who could easily be given the “boy next door” treatment, but Hutcherson gives him a pragmatism and honesty that present him as a young man who understands there is more at stake than his life, and that his identity is the one thing he really can’t afford to lose. Whether it’s for show or for real, the chemistry between Lawrence and Hutcherson gives the film its heart.

The story has its obvious commentary on 21st Century media. Ross takes this and runs with it to great effect. The entire film is essentially shot like a reality TV show, relying heavily on the use of hand-held cameras and staggered close-ups, making the audience feel a part of the crowd watching the games themselves (though not in an accusatory sense, per se). Perhaps it was my imagination, but throughout the film there even seemed to be winks at its dystopian science fiction predecessors, with certain designs uncannily evoking Truffaut’s 1966 adaptation of Fahrenheit 451. One thing is for sure, Gary Ross has achieved a rare feat: creating a film that is at once both a mega-blockbuster as well as a sophisticated piece of filmmaking.

The Kids Are All Right (and we will be, too)

Pictured (left to right): Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Mia Wasikowska, Mark Ruffalo

Frankly, I support any film that involves an impromptu Joni Mitchell sing-a-long between Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo. If that had been the only scene I watched from this summer gem, my opinion would probably be the same as it is now. But this is not to say that was the only moment of enjoyment. “The Kids Are All Right” is a fresh, smart, and ultimately brave comedy that delights and enlightens its audiences from start to finish.

The key is that it makes its statement without actually making it. Like “The Hurt Locker” commented on the Middle East by allowing the soldiers to speak for themselves, “Kids” presents the fact that Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are a married lesbian couple as established fact, no need for further discussion. This is Mom and Mom, these are their kids, this is their life. Believe it or not, it’s a lot like yours.

Nic (Bening) is mama bear, ready to defend her cubs and mate from any intruders. Jules (Moore) is the free-spirit, the “I’m your friend” parent, though not as embarrassing as say, Phil Dunphy of “Modern Family.” Their children Joni and Laser (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) are anywhere’s teenagers, profoundly confused and defensive when asked about it. Together they are (for all intents and purposes) a traditional American family.

Things change of course when Joni and Laser, out of pure curiosity, decide to contact their mothers’ sperm donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Paul is the definition of a “cool dude” but Laser has it right when he initially characterizes him as “a little into himself.” He is their sperm donor, not their father. Through the bizarre yet very realistic triangle that emerges between the three adults, the audience begins to realize that the kids may in fact be the only ones who are all right (but still not great).

Early in the film Jules attempts to explain to Laser that “human sexuality can be very complicated” and none prove this more than her. The sexual relationship that emerges between Jules and Paul is curious but honest. As she and Nic drift father apart, she seeks Paul’s companionship as a refuge of appreciation and unbiased support. Not to mention, he is a part of her children, creating between them a connection that I think goes beyond any dictates of sexual preference.

The performances are spot on all around. Bening and Moore are tender and believable, we root for them through and through. Mark Ruffalo is the best he’s been in years thanks to a director who understands what to do with his sleepy mumble. As for the kids, Wasikowska is at her "In Treatment" best and Hutcherson can easily call this his breakthrough.

I very gladly add "The Kids Are All Right" to my list of 2010’s best (which right now has I Am Love in its #1 spot). It is emotional yet understated, clever but not full of itself. In terms of its politics, as said before, it does not preach in the slightest. It simply shows how today’s everchanging image of the “nuclear family” is still, at its core, facing the same challenges it has since the idea of the American Dream began.