Bad Moms
4/5 stars
R. 1h., 41 min. Directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
When I heard Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hanh were all going to be in a comedy together playing crazy mothers, I just knew I needed to see that movie. Let me just tell you, I was not disappointed.
I love movies that challenge stereotypes because most stereotypes are plain stupid. Like how we women have to be these perfect beings that can do it all and have these perfect attitudes. Can’t think of anyone like that? Well, that's because they don’t exist, (and if you are a woman who can do it all and still have a great attitude and look amazing all the time, kindly get the hell out).
Bad Moms went after just those types of women. Women who are the perfect mothers that make Pinterest lunches and always have time to take their kids everywhere while still either maintaining a job or doing all the housework and looking flawless through it all.
The movie starts with Amy (Mila Kunis) running around trying to get her kids fed and off to school and getting herself to work on time. She runs into so many terrible — but so hilarious — issues along the way. These issues cause her to have a breakdown at a PTA meeting when the perfect Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate; and yes, the cast just keeps getting better) lists all the ingredients the mothers are forbidden from using at the Bake Sale. Amy quits trying to be the perfect mom and joins two other hot mess moms, Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hanh).
What I found most hilarious is the way these three moms decide to quit being perfect and start having fun. They go to a supermarket and start eating and drinking the things they can’t normally eat and drink. The party Amy throws later on in the movie, starts as a raging party but it ends at 11. Going to a supermarket and ending a party at 11 are such mom things to do, even when they try not to be good moms anymore. Just having Kathryn Hanh’s character be a hot mess who will flirt with anyone and her crude language made the entire movie for me (I say more Kathryn Hanh, everywhere).
All throughout the movie, the moms do what all moms have most likely done. Things like bringing store-bought items to a bake sale and telling their kids they can make their own breakfast when moms just want to lounge around in pajamas and eat cold nachos. The movie drives home the fact that moms shouldn’t have to be perfect, and it uses rich material. Amy has her own daughter cut school just to sneak her into the fancy spa where Carla works. The movie shows how "perfect" Gwendolyn's life isn’t as perfect as she makes everyone believe.
After the credits roll, the real moms of the main cast talk about the little white lies they told while the stars were children and other instances where they weren’t perfect mothers. They end by talking about how proud they are of how their daughters turned out and how they weren’t bad moms.
They just weren’t perfect moms either.
