Movie Review: 'Bad Moms'
Directors: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Cast: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Christina Applegate, Kathryn Hahn, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Plot: Amy Mitchell spends her time trying to be the perfect mom, giving her kids the best extra-curricular experiences and doing her best at her job. After catching her husband having an online affair amid everything going wrong, she snaps and decides that she's going to be a 'bad mom'.
Review: Sometimes I just don't feel like a movie was made for me. Certainly not a bad thing, but worth noting. I am not the target audience. That said, it feels like it hits the right notes. Doctor Funk and I are parents and some of the issues Amy faces in the movie are concerns that have been voiced in this house, so I felt pretty sympathetic towards the character's plight. Rather than concoct a simple conflict between the good guys and the bad guys they focus on the societal expectations put on mothers and how they can easily go under-appreciated. It's something worth talking about, and leads to some solid comedic moments.
Mila Kunis makes for a strong leading lady, and she's backed up by Kritsen Bell as an isolated stay-at-home mum and Kathryn Hahn as a devil-may-care mum. The three of them head out on benders and challenge the expectations put on them, eventually going head-to-head with the bullying president of the PTA. As this conflict escalates they work to balance making themselves feel good about themselves with raising their children the right way, making mistakes and improving in turn. The story is definitely cookie cutter, if you've seen any raunchy comedy in the past decade you'll be able to predict every beat as they come around. Kiki (Bell) and her relationship with husband Kent get amongst glanced over, and this is the one plot thread we'd liked to have seen fleshed out a bit more so it would be more satisfying when he gets taken down a peg.
Good actors, plain story...the real question is whether or not it is funny. The answer is yes. Yes, it is. We laughed very frequently throughout the movie. The actors have good timing and the central three have distinct personalities and bounce off each other really well. We're happy to report that the jokes land with much more consistency than most comedies this year.
If you want a good, easy laugh with a fun soundtrack this is one of the best on offer right now.
Rating: SEVEN out of TEN