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I may be biased here, but I think moms are pretty amazing people. They work night and day, caring for (and catering to) little people who rarely appreciate them—all while living under the constant scrutiny and judgment of total strangers. But in the wild comedy Bad Moms, some exhausted moms give up and let loose.
Bad Moms stars Mila Kunis as Amy Mitchell, an overworked, underappreciated working mom of two kids. She spends her days racing from school to work to PTA meetings, trying to keep up with all of the perfect moms around her, only to end up crying in her minivan at least once a day. When she discovers that her husband, Mike (David Walton), has been having an online affair for months, she snaps. She dreads her new life as a single mom—but then she meets frazzled mom of four Kiki (Kristen Bell) and wild single mom Carla (Kathryn Hahn), and her new friends help her learn to let it all go.
Part outrageous comedy, part therapy session, Bad Moms is every play date conversation rolled into one clever and hilarious package—and it’s acted out by women who will remind you of all of your best mom friends. It tells it like it is: most moms work too hard, do too much, and get too little time for themselves—and they’re constantly under pressure to do more, to do better, and to live up to everyone else’s expectations. Most dream of letting loose without feeling guilty—or telling the mean moms at the park exactly what they can do with their unsolicited advice. And, in Bad Moms, the characters get to do just that—with wildly funny results.
But Bad Moms is more than just a comedy; it’s a comic fantasy. Here, moms get to be crazy and irresponsible. They stand up to their boss and blow off work. They have leisurely lunches with friends. They get dressed up, go out on the town, and throw parties with the kind of wild abandon that’s no longer familiar to those of us who never know when a tiny person will climb into our beds and kick us in the face. And, as if that weren’t heavenly enough, one of these women even wins the heart of a gorgeous guy who understands her, appreciates her hard work, and wants nothing more than to make her happy. And that makes it the kind of movies that moms will want to watch over and over again, while drinking multiple glasses of wine.
Granted, this film doesn’t have the best view of men or marriage. The married women tend to be beaten down, bossed around, or entirely miserable. The men are lazy, irresponsible, and unfaithful. And in the midst of all of the laugh-out-loud moments, you may sometimes stop and realize that the film is making light of—and sometimes encouraging—the dissolution of a young family. But if you can take it all for what it really is—just a wild comic fantasy—you’ll enjoy every over-the-top minute.
Bad Moms is an uncommon film. It isn’t a sappy romance or a family comedy where Mom takes a supporting role—or an obnoxious comedy with women simply playing male roles. It’s an outrageous R-rated comedy for the rest of us—for the tired, the fed-up, and, yes, even the bad moms. It’s a must-see for all of your play date friends.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
