HOME VIDEO SPOTLIGHT: The Kids Are All Right, Eat Pray Love, The Extra Man

Brief capsules on new movies worth renting.

By R. Kurt Osenlund, The Good Life film critic

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

The ease with which writer/director Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids Are All Right" makes a non-issue of its homosexual themes is deeply refreshing, but that the film exists, in all its embraceable splendor, is indeed an issue worth celebrating. This is the first major crowd- and critic-pleaser to feature a lesbian couple right at the forefront, and its dressed with a splendidly-cast bunch of actors, including Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, and Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as its central couple. Rarely does a family dramedy feel this true and current, and though Cholodenko doesn't give all her characters a fair enough shake, she's made a film for which the world is a little bit better. (Available Now)

EAT PRAY LOVE

Moviegoers have been waiting a long time -- 9 years, in fact -- for Julia Roberts to get back in the leading-lady saddle. They get their wish with "Eat Pray Love," "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy's glistening adaptation of author Elizabeth Gilbert's globetrotting memoir. As the story goes, Liz (Roberts) one-ups carpe diem and seizes the year, traveling through Italy, India and Bali to rediscover herself after multiple sour experiences with men. Set in Rome, the "Eat" segement blows the other two off the map, but Roberts makes the full trip worthwhile, winning your admiration as ably as ever. Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, JAmes Franco and Richard Jenkins -- in a fine supporting performance -- costar. (Available Nov. 23)

THE EXTRA MAN

No Kevin Kline fan should dare miss "The Extra Man," the film adaptation of Jonathan Ames' quirk-filled New York novel that sees Kline give his most nimbly unrestrained comedic turn since "In & Out." He plays a penniless socialite/male escort, who teaches his ways to an aspiring writer (Paul Dano) who movers into a spare room. Inspired by (and laced with) the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the class-conscious comedy is the latest effort from filmmakers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the couple behind "American Splendor." Part Lynchian, part contempo indie curio, part classic lit, it's a funny little urban story, co-starring gifted folks like John C. Reilly and Celia Weston. (Available Now)