Bad Moms Review by Lisa Johnson Mandell

If the filmmakers behind Bad Moms really wanted to poke fun at Tiger Moms, Helicopter Moms and any other perfection obsessed matriarchs out there, and if they really wanted to make the rest of us feel it’s okay to be a Bad Mom, they wouldn’t have cast Mila Kunis in the lead role. Even at her baddest she looks stunningly beautiful and not a day over 22. And while most other moms are wearing clogs or gym shoes, she perpetually saunters in stylish high heeled boots. Oh don’t get me started about her odd lack of chemistry with her screen children.

Which is not to say Bad Moms is a bad movie. Sure, the Kunis casting if flawed, but she still manages to be engaging. And every foul word that spews from the mouth of naughty mommy Carla Dunkle (Kathryn Hahn) practically causes a spit take. Bad Moms definitely has its moments — just not as many as I’d hoped it would.

In an idyllic superb just outside of Chicago, we find three frustrated mothers (Kunis, Hahn and Kristen Bell), who, like every other mother in the PTA (What? No dads?) allow themselves to be bullied by a PTA president on steroids, played by Christina Applegate. This movie does for men what most kids’ films do for adults: all but one are expendable and clueless. I actually found that aspect of it a little refreshing, because how often are women relegated to appendage status in male buddy comedies?

The suspense here is in seeing how low can the moms can go, which isn’t really all that far. I’m thinking that Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers and directors behind the Hangover franchise, would have benefitted by inviting a woman to join their team. Their film feels more like how men think it might be to be a mom, rather than how it really is. But they can be forgiven. The best part happens during the final credits, when the actresses take the couch with their real moms and discuss their parenting and daughtering skills. Those few moments are oh-so-touching, and worth the price of admission.

Rated R

1 Hour 41 Minutes

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BAD MOMS Review — They Could Be Worse

https://youtu.be/VAkOfyLjWUI

BAD MOMS Review — They Could Be Worse

by Lisa Johnson Mandell