Movie Review: Bad Moms
What We Liked
What We Didn't Like
Yes, this movie about moms (and for moms, really) was written by two dudes. Yes, this movie for moms was directed by these same two dudes, known for depicting the dudiest of all dudes on the big screen. But thankfully, mercifully, yes: there are still shreds of maternal truth to this ridiculously superficial (albeit hilarious) flick. Bad Moms comprises an all-star cast of females highly capable of and willing to portray the frustrations they, themselves, feel as working mothers – on the big screen. And, boy oh boy, do these gals knock it out of the park!
Brought to us by writers and directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (most notably of The Hangover trilogy and 21 & Over), Bad Moms is a story about three swamped, undervalued mothers who, while not inherently “bad,” make the brazen decision to be bad – at least for a while. I would argue that, at its heart, Bad Moms is a story about adult friendships, understanding and embracing one’s own limits, and self-indulgence gone awry. Oh, and the horrors of the PTA.
Ever been to an “emergency” three-hour PTA meeting wherein the uppity dictator of a PTA president demands that all parents provide homemade, gluten-free, nut-free, preservative-free, yet tasty and nutritious baked goods for the school bake sale? Did the same pearl-sporting PTA president berate you and diminish your mothering skills in front of a massive audience of head-tilting moms at your kids’ school gym? No? Probably not. But that’s what happened to Amy (played by Mila Kunis). And she’s had enough.
When Amy, a hardworking 32-year-old mother of two with a thankless boss (the perfectly apt Clark Duke) and unappreciative family suddenly finds herself single and quasi-unemployed – and in need of friendship, support, and a damn good time – she befriends fellow mothers Kiki and Carla (Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, respectively). Kiki, a sweet-but-naive stay-at-home mom and devoted wife, and Carla, a lustful single mother on the prowl, are also outcasts in the eyes of the other neighborhood mothers. Together with Amy, they realize that they’re not alone. And they deserve a break. Over all the judgment, they decide it’s time to strike.
No more perfectly folded laundry; no waking up extra-early to make pancakes and bacon when cereal will do just fine; no minivan-driving. Commencing with a farcical, slow-motion drunken spree to the grocery store in which the ladies tear open pre-packaged snacks and dig right in whilst chugging Champagne, guzzling Bailey’s, and damaging store property, the three momketeers’ revolution is underway.
To the primped overachiever Gwendolyn James (a well-suited Christina Applegate) and her cronies Stacy and Vicky (Jada Pinkett Smith and Annie Mumolo), this rag-tag group of mothers is impeding upon their well-oiled machine – the very school that all of their children attend. The school and its after-school activities are all implausibly run completely by the PTA (and thus, the vengeful Gwendolyn James, who will stop at nothing, not even harming another mother’s child, to keep the crown of PTA president). Enter the race to the PTA presidency.
Juggling marriage, friendships, motherhood, and work can be tough. But it can also be a riot. Unfortunately, we may all know a Gwendolyn James; but fortunately, we may have a Kiki or a Carla to watch our backs. In fact, quite frankly, the bawdy Kathryn Hahn (Carla) truly carries this movie. While Kristen Bell’s honest humor combined with Mila Kunis’ bluntness works well here, the quick-witted, smack-talking, and improvisational Hahn is finally given the ample screen time she deserves.
Overall, Bad Moms can be preposterous and indelicate. But so can life! Viewers may find themselves laughing their tushes off and rooting for this all-star ensemble, as I did. (And make sure you stick through it ’til the end, when we’re treated to real-life interviews between the cast and their own mothers.)
Mandi Ruffner
