BY GENE TRIPLETT

HONOLULU — Glancing out the hotel window at the lush green sprawl of golf course lined with palm and banyan trees and all manner of exotic flowering plant life ending at the white

Josh Hutcherson, Luis Guzman, Vanessa Hudgens, Dwayne Johnson.

 sands of Waikiki Beach and the sparkling blue Pacific beyond, it’s hard to imagine anyone finding hardship and trouble in this paradise.

But that’s what Dwayne Johnson managed when he was a student a Honolulu’s William McKinley High School.

“I wanted to go back to my roots,” the former WWE champion-turned-film-actor told a room full of reporters during a recent press day at the Kahala Hotel to promote the release of “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.”

“It was important to me,” said Johnson, a bit of his elaborate Polynesian tattoo showing beneath the short sleeve of the form-fitting black T-shirt that covered his heroic muscles like a second skin.

“I did a lot of my growing up here in Hawaii,” he said. “It always represented struggle. It was here in Hawaii I had the notion in my head, ‘Well, I can change my life with my hands.’ Meaning maybe I could build my body and I could become someone and change my family’s situation. So it was all driven based off that.

“And it all started in the McKinley weight room. It all started when I was 14 years old as a freshman. I started playing football. I was getting in trouble all the time. I was doing a lot of things that I shouldn’t have been doing. I still had coaches who believed in my potential, but it all started in that weight room.”

Facing the past

So, one of the first things Johnson did when he returned to Hawaii to promote “Journey 2” — much of which was filmed on location here — was revisit his old school.

“And I went back unannounced,” he said. “The principal knew. We went in, and the beauty of that weight room is, it’s still a mess, it’s still dirty, it’s still rusted out. There’s still electrical tape holding together a lot of the equipment. Nothing has changed in years. And that’s the beauty of it, because it’s never been about boosters and donating a lot of money, donating this beautiful space. It’s about kids getting after it, getting better in that dirty place. Big chicken skin moment.”

The surprised students he spoke to were no doubt impressed with this hometown-boy-made-good, as he’s now one of the biggest box office draws in the world with gross film revenues in excess of $2.1 million, and yet another potential blockbuster opening in theaters Friday.

“I enjoy making a movie that the entire family can go see,” Johnson said of “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.”

“In this case it’s a big adventure, an epic adventure. My first 3-D movie. Written and directed for 3-D, written and made for 3-D, not converted. There’s a lot of reasons to go back into this space. When you do a family movie right, there’s a character on the screen that every member of the family can relate to. That’s a cool and special thing. I like that.”

‘Journey’ continues

“Journey 2” is the second installment in a Jules Verne-inspired franchise that began with 2008′s “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Josh Hutcherson returns as intrepid teenage explorer Sean Anderson, and Johnson makes his first appearance in the series as Sean’s new stepfather, Hank.

The running plot of the series thus far has had Sean setting out on dangerous quests to prove Verne’s 19th-century novels were more fact than fiction. This time the story begins when Sean receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist.

Unable to stop Sean from tracking the signal to its source, stepfather Hank joins the quest that takes them to the South Pacific, where they hire a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his daughter (Vanessa Hudgens) as guides in their search for the lost island and its lone human inhabitant, Sean’s explorer grandfather, Alexander (Michael Caine).

What they encounter is a place of stunning beauty, volcanoes, mountains of gold, giant carnivorous lizards and miniature elephants, to name just a few of the mind-boggling sights.

And along the way, each of the characters learns in his or her own way to accept and appreciate others for who they are, and let go of negative first impressions.

Measure of success

“They don’t all have to make hundreds of millions of dollars as long as they’re good,” Johnson said of the films he’s made, which include “The Scorpion King,” “Walking Tall,” “Race to Witch Mountain,” “Fast Five” and the upcoming “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”

“And in this case, we’ve got a shot at making hundreds of millions of dollars and also just making a good movie that has some value in it,” Johnson said.

Of course, the actor also known as “The Rock” made his first millions following the family tradition set by his father and grandfather in the world of professional wrestling. But that was only after earning a scholarship to the University of Miami, where he played on the school’s national championship football team in 1991, playing again for the title in 1992 and ’95.

It was after graduation that he developed “The Rock” character, performing to more than 10 million fans a week on television, plus domestic and international live audiences that often topped 70,000 people. He was regularly selling out such venues as the Houston Astrodome, Madison Square Garden and the Toronto Sky Dome.

His autobiography, “The Rock Says,” became a New York Times best-seller, and he even had a platinum-selling album with his WWE music compilation, performing with such artists and Wyclef Jean.

Return to wrestling

But as his movie career grew, “The Rock’s” wrestling fans saw less and less of their hero in the ring — until recently. In 2011, Johnson renewed his relationship with the WWE, hosting WrestleMania XXVII and the main event for WWE’s November 2011 “Survivor Series” at Madison Square Garden.

“I quietly retired from wrestling, and for those who don’t know, I’m going back,” Johnson said.

On April 1, Johnson will be the star attraction at WrestleMania XXVIII in his hometown of Miami, Fla. He will face WWE superstar John Cena.

“The goal is to go back for one night and create the biggest match in the history of the WWE,” he said.

“We could create something for the fans, plus I was passionate about the business, I loved it.”

And Johnson isn’t worried about possibly damaging that movie star face of his.

“Yes, well, the beauty of that is we control everything,” he said with that dazzling grin of his. “That’s just the way it is. It’s a crazy business. You go in with all (good) intentions to entertain the audience. But things happen.”

So it seems 2012 is a year of comebacks for this man who began his journey in a rundown part of paradise.

“Never did I imagine that I would be able to come back (to Hawaii) and not only come back, but come back as someone,” Johnson said. “That was something that I wanted so badly, and not only that, but come back and bring a huge movie here, and what that does for the local economy, and what that does for local businesses. And that’s special. That’s really special.”

BY GENE TRIPLETT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The man who would be Hulk was as laid-back and likable as any easygoing dude could be, more like the carefree charmer he plays in “The Kids Are All Right” than a guy who turns into a big green monster every time he loses his temper.

But when Mark Ruffalo settled back for an interview with The Oklahoman on Father’s Day afternoon, the official announcement that he would be taking over the role of Hulk alter ego Bruce Banner in the movie version of “The Avengers” was still weeks away, and he was here at the Four Seasons Hotel not to talk comic-book heroes but fatherhood and family. And gay marriage. And doing acrobatic sex scenes with Julianne Moore.

All of these elements come into play in “The Kids Are All Right,” a comedy-drama from director Lisa Cholodenko about Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Moore, respectively), a lesbian couple in a longtime relationship, each with a teenage child conceived via artificial insemination provided by the same anonymous donor. Their family ties are tested when the kids (Mia Wasujiwska and Josh Hutcherson) decide to seek out their biological dad, who turns out to be Paul (Ruffalo), a free-spirited natural-food restaurateur who first wins the hearts of the kids, then the vulnerable Jules, and then even the brittle and guarded Nic — until she decides that five is a crowd.

“I’m pretty loose and easy,” Ruffalo said, grinning affably as he compared his own traits to those of Paul. “I think like the guy. I’m pretty open to people. I’m not too judgmental of them. You know, I like to have a good time; I like to make people laugh. I think those are qualities that Paul has.

“But after that, it pretty much stops. I’ve known a lot of people like this, a few people in particular that I’ve been really close to in my life, that I really have loved and admired. So in a way it comes naturally for me, because I know them so well. But I have three kids. I’m committed. I’m married. I’ve been married for 10 years, and you know, you don’t see me in the tabloids. I really kind of like my family and embrace my responsibilities, and Paul’s not like that.”

Even before he settled down, working as a bartender for nearly 10 years while he struggled to make it as an actor, Ruffalo could never get as lucky with women as Paul.

“I tried, man, I tried to be Jack Nicholson,” he said with a laugh. “I had some moments where I was close, but I’d always end up hookin’ up with a girl for a couple of years at a time. I had girlfriends. I’d live with them. I had a little period of time where I was trying to have a couple of different girls and be a bachelor, and you know that ended up with me gettin’ slapped.”

But in the film, his character’s the kind of guy who can tumble into bed with just about any woman he wants, including Moore’s gay woman, who’s hit a midlife crisis that’s causing tension at home. That was when the script called for Ruffalo and Moore to get buck naked and fake some pretty fiery sex scenes.

“Believe it or not, she’s a good friend of my wife, which takes a lot of pressure off me,” Ruffalo said.

They had all become good friends when Moore and Ruffalo worked together on “Blindness” in 2008.

In a separate interview, Moore said, “So, the fact that I knew him, that we really trusted each other, we were friends, all of that stuff was incredibly helpful. So we were able to do it quickly and easily, and it was fun, and I don’t even remember doing half of it. When I finally saw it at Sundance, I’m like, ‘Did we do all that? Oh my God, that’s outrageous!’”

“Well, you leave your body,” Ruffalo said. “Anything that’s that uncomfortable for you, I think you just separate from it a little bit. You just jump into it, and then a lot of times you can’t remember what happened because it’s so uncomfortable. … (At Sundance) I had my wife’s eyes covered during the whole thing.”

As for the gay marriage aspect the film, Ruffalo is quick to point out that it’s only a modern twist on an age-old subject and not the issue of the film.

“Not at all,” he said. “I’ve seen the movie now with a couple of different audiences, and they’re laughing because there’s a lot of humor in it. And they’re laughing not because it’s a jokey movie, they’re laughing because they see themselves in it. They see their own families. And ultimately I think it’s just an honest look at a family. I don’t care if it’s gay or straight or biracial or whatever. I don’t think there’s that much difference between ‘em, you know?”

Travel and accommodations provided by Focus Features.

From left, Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Mia Wasikowska, Mark Ruffalo.

Two moms; two kids; one sperm donor. Not a conventional family unit in the minds of many.

But no matter what your politics or moral views dictate, “The Kids Are All Right” conveys sentiments and truths about family ties and families coming unraveled that are universal. And it does so with great wit, wisdom and warmth — not to mention obvious originality — through the smart and deeply sensitive performances of its principal players under the knowing direction of Lisa Cholodenko (“High Art,” “Laurel Canyon”), who co-wrote the original screenplay with Stuart Blumberg (“Keeping the Faith”).

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are enormously engaging and endearing as Nic and Jules, respectively, longtime partners in a lesbian marriage, living a cozy suburban life in Los Angeles with their two teenage children, Joni (Mia Wasikowska, fantastic in “Alice in Wonderland”), 18, and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), 15, who were conceived with the help of the same anonymous donor. Nic gave birth to Joni and Jules brought Laser into the world, and the kids refer to their parents as “Moms” in lieu of “Mom and Mom” or “Mom and Dad.” (“Don’t tell Moms,” “What will Moms think?” etc.)

Nic, a doctor, is the high-strung, confident alpha half of the couple who enforces the house rules, while Jules is the sweeter and more vulnerable of the two, the mostly stay-at-home parent who has tried different jobs, attended architectural school and now wants to try her hand at landscape designing.

It’s a reasonably comfortable and happy home, save for the midlife tensions caused by Joni’s impending departure for college, and Jules’ indecision about what to do with the next stage of her life. But then the kids decide on their own to satisfy a natural, nagging curiosity to seek out their biological father.

And they find Paul (a shaggily charming Mark Ruffalo), a hip, affable, carefree bachelor and successful natural-food restaurateur who motorcycles into the family’s life and turns things upside down, first winning the hearts of the kids and then the off-balance and open Jules, who gladly tends his garden in more ways than one. Even the brittle and guarded Nic begins to warm to him, until she sees how their family framework is suddenly beginning to break apart at the joists.

At this point, the battle is joined, among kids and moms and the newfound dad, who’s decided he wants to join the fold. It’s a familiar story told with modern twists, which makes this film all the more eye-opening and entertaining in its 21st-century way of examining age-old familial foibles.

Don’t get the idea, however, that this movie about family is suited for family viewing. This is strictly adult fare, with raw sex scenes — mostly of the heterosexual variety — and situations speaking plainly to mature and hopefully open-minded audiences.

At turns tough, tender and tumultuously funny thanks to the pitch-perfect performances of a well-chosen ensemble cast, a gifted director and a brilliant and heartfelt script, here’s a film that truly hits close to home.

— Gene Triplett

MOVIE REVIEW

“The Kids Are All Right”

R
1:44
3½ stars

Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson.

(Strong sexual content, nudity, language, some teen drug and alcohol use)

BY GENE TRIPLETT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Julianne Moore seemed amused that it was Father’s Day morning and she was here to talk about her role as one-half of a couple of lesbian moms in “The Kids

Annette Bening, left, and Julianne Moore

 Are All Right.”

“Happy Father’s Day,” was her bright greeting to all the male reporters around the interview table as she entered a sun-filled suite at the Four Seasons Hotel. “Oh my goodness, it was so nice of all of you to come out on Father’s Day to work.

“I have a pedicure planned for my husband,” allowed the radiant, lightly freckled redhead with the smiling blue-green eyes as she pulled up a chair.

“That’s awfully nice,” a journalist remarked.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna do it,” she quickly assured everyone.

Moore has enjoyed a long-term relationship and marriage to director Bart Freundlich and is raising two children, much like the woman she portrays in “The Kids Are All Right.” But the big difference is Moore’s character, Jules, is married to a woman named Nic, played by Annette Bening, in director Lisa Cholodenko’s comedy-drama about family ties and trials.

Jules and Nic are also raising two kids, Joni (Mia Wasikowska), 18, and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), 15, both happy and well-adjusted youngsters, until one day they decide to find and meet the anonymous sperm donor who fathered them.

Enter Paul (Mark Ruffalo), a hip natural-foods restaurant owner and footloose bachelor who is an immediate hit with the kids, then with the vulnerable Jules in a way that she’s never experienced. Even the brittle family breadwinner Nic begins to warm to Paul’s easygoing charm after a while — until his presence begins to cause family ties to unravel.

Sure, a gay marriage is part of the premise here, Moore said, but it’s certainly not the issue.

“I thought it was incredibly charming,” she said. “Really, really moving and important, because it’s a portrait of a marriage, you know, a middle-aged marriage and what it means to be committed and what it’s like to be in a family and how you grow up, and how do you move away from your parents and still stay connected, and stuff that’s pretty universal.”

Moore was the first actor to become attached to the project in 2005, and she believed in it enough to hang in there through all the struggles an independent production faces, including financing, casting and personal matters, such as Cholodenko’s pregnancy from artificial insemination.

“I met her, I think it was in this hotel at a Women in Film luncheon, and told her how much I loved her work. I loved ‘Laurel Canyon,’ I loved ‘High Art,’” Moore said. “I said I hoped we’d work together, and by the end of that year, she sent me the script to ‘The Kids Are All Right,’ and it was a long process. … But it was always there and always kind of alive, and I had every intention of doing it. I love Lisa, and I love her work.”

Moore insists there are no political pitches for gay marriage in this screenplay by Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg, just a portrait of a kind of family that exists in real life but is not often depicted on-screen, dealing with common family problems.

“They’re a very traditional family,” she said. “I mean more conservative and traditional than most families. I mean they have one working parent and one stay-at-home parent. I know very few people like that these days. Out of necessity most parents work. So they’re kind of fortunate and incredibly bourgeois.”

Moore thinks even moviegoers from the right end of the political spectrum can appreciate the family picture presented in “The Kids Are All Right.”

“There was a study, it was about don’t ask, don’t tell,” she said. “The thing that most changes opinions is proximity. Proximity and knowledge. So if you’re in a unit with a guy who’s gay, and you didn’t know he was gay and you find out, and you think, ‘Hey, he’s a regular guy. Wow, look, that’s not so different,’ it’s the same thing with gay families. If you are living in a neighborhood and there’s a same-sex family next door to you, you think, ‘Wow, you guys are doing the same things.’ That is what is slowly changing popular opinion. And I think that movies in a sense don’t influence culture as much as they reflect it. …

“I mean, it really is interesting and complicated and funny, because you realize people are, you know, we’re all dealing with the same stuff, oddly, because we all live in the same world.”

Moore hopes audiences take away the film’s real intended message.

“I really think it’s about how important families are,” she said. “It’s a wonderful look at a long-term relationship, what it’s like to be parents, to grow up a family, and I think it’s a reminder of how much we cherish it, how much we should, you know?”

Travel and accommodations provided by Focus Features.