I finally watched The Kids Are All Right this weekend, and I was so impressed with the film, particularly with the very convincing way that Julianne Moore and Annette Bening played longterm lovers in a slump. Without giving away any spoilers, the ending was too pat to me. Overall though I thought it was an understated, realistic film that had some touching truisms about marriage and family. Moore’s performance was excellent and Kaiser thinks that Moore should have received some more recognition from the industry.

Anyway Moore gave an interview to The Guardian in which she revealed that a therapist convinced her she needed to get married for her kids’ sake. It sounds like she could be revealing she’s having trouble in her marriage, but if you read between the lines it’s like she’s saying marriage isn’t necessary to prove commitment:

Every family is different. In my family there was one parent you asked for money and the other for permission to do things. You could never get both out of one parent. My father gave me money (“Here’s $50, but you can’t leave the house”) and my mother let me out (“You can go out, but I’m not going to give you any money”) and that was just how it was. I see that with my children too – my husband and I flip-flop in different roles.

The only reason I got married in 2003 was for my children. I had a therapist who said marriage is really a container for a family and that made sense to me. Bart [Freundlich] and I have been together for years. We have Caleb, 13, and our daughter Liv, who is eight.

I want to be with my husband and kids as much as I can. Some celebrities take their children everywhere with them – despite having to pull them away from school and friends. Because of my own childhood experiences, I try to work in New York or during the summer when my family can come with me. The days of doing a film where I need to be away for months during the school year are over.

The kids go to a Quaker school. Their father and I believe a lot in community, social responsibility, making sure you give to people less fortunate than you. The children, I think, see fame as separate from me. I always say, “I’m not on the cover because I’m famous. It’s because it’s my job, I’m in a movie.” I stress work and accomplishment and not celebrity.

[From The Guardian via Huffington Post]

She sounds like such a good mom and like she’s working to ensure her kids stay grounded. I really like Moore and find her so lovely and normal.

She doesn’t always get it right fashion-wise, though. (Remember her fuchsia dress with the single poof sleeve at the Golden Globes?) Moore wore a white long sleeve shift dress from The Row, the Olsen Twin fashion line, at the Greater New York Human Rights Campaign Gala in New York on Saturday. She’s so lovely and that dress just washes her out and hangs there. Plus it looks ridiculous with those black tights and booties.

Moore is also shown with her husband, Bart Freundlich, on 6/30/10 and kids on 10/1/10. Photo credit: WENN.com