Review // Bad Moms

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Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn headline the new comedy Bad Moms. While the film is incredibly formulaic, the charm and charisma of these three ladies helps make up for its many flaws.

Kunis leads as an overworked young mother who, after discovering her man-child of a husband is having a virtual affair, kicks him to the curb and prepares to crumble under the pressures of being a single mom. One bad day culminates with an outburst at a PTA meeting where she decides she doesn’t want to be a “perfect” mother. Instead of being the mother who sacrifices herself to do everything for her kids (including bake nut/gluten/egg/dairy free treats from scratch) she’ll settle for being a “bad” mom. Not an actual negligent parent, just one that doesn’t care to meet the insane standards of the other mothers at her kids’ school. Following Amy’s PTA outburst, stay-at-home mother of four Kiki (Kristen Bell) seeks her out, sympathizing with the pressures she’s rebelling against. The threesome is completed by Carla (Kathryn Hahn), the school’s outcast single mother… who might actually be a bad mom. United, the three women take on the establishment, aka the PTA, by challenging the current President (the Stepford-esque Gwendolyn, played by Christina Applegate) in the upcoming election.

Written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the duo behind The Hangover series, the comedy feels like it was dashed off rather quickly. There’s so much going on in the script that is completely irrelevant to the plot that it actually detracts from the “high-stakes” PTA presidency battle at its core. For instance, the subplot involving Amy’s career. The plot initially seems like a set up for a throwaway joke, but then Lucas and Moore decide to bring in an office of millennials led by Clark Duke (who is delightful even if completely unnecessary) to add more stress to a superfluous conflict. If her job affected how she runs her PTA campaign, it might have been a feasible tangent, but on the whole there’s no reason to even enter the office. We’re here for a mom showdown remember? While we explore too much of Amy’s workplace drama, we don’t see enough of Kiki’s (possibly abusive?) home life, so when she goes from *spoiler alert* push-over house wife to the one wearing the pants, it’s a pretty big leap. All these ladies seem to have bigger issues than the PTA, which would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that the race for the PTA presidency is positioned as the biggest issue in the film.

Despite the clunky plot and the character development I still had a blast watching the film. The jokes are funny, and the slow motion “we give zero sh*ts” montages are a riot, even if a little overdone. The highlight by far is the incredible cast. They’re natural, funny, and turn a terrible script into an enjoyable experience. What’s fun is that the bad moms are just real moms. Parents who want to raise good kids despite the politics of parenting. The end credits might have been my favourite part, the actresses are paired with their real life mothers discuss their parenting experiences together, as daughters and as mothers. It grounds the outrageous film in the real world.

Bad Moms is a great pick for girls night, but I’d wait for the home release so you can break out the wine while you watch.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.