Bad Moms is not a movie that is ever going to threaten other movies for something as lucrative as, say, the Academy Award for Best Picture, but get yourself in the right frame of mind and it’s a surprising amount of fun.
Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers of the The Hangover (not the sequels, however), Bad Moms is everything you would expect from a duo who have written, amongst others, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, 21 & Over and The Change-Up, but there are little things that actually put it a touch beyond those movies in terms of enjoyment.
First of all, the obvious is that the lead characters are all female, while any male characters are pushed aside to be either viewed as useless, more useless or as a somewhat one-dimensional love interest, and whilst the film does have a plethora of “let’s get wasted” scenes involving copious amounts of alcohol and loud music (like all montages involving these two things, they are shot in slow motion like comedic beer advertisements), it’s the centralisation of female characters and their modern problems that gives it an area of interest beyond seeing male characters in their earlier twenties doing such a thing (as seen in the writer/director’s previous 21 & Over).
Second of all, is the casting. Centering the film around Mila Kunis is obvious, but as always (or at least from my perspective), she’s always better than I expect her to be. Her character of Amy actually makes for a sympathetic portrayal, and is funny and charming too. Support of the best kind comes from Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell. The former is great no matter what she’s in (she was a real stand out in Parks and Recreation) whilst there should be some sort of law in Hollywood that Kristen Bell is cast in every project going because she’s that damn good. I don’t know, maybe it’s the marshmallow in me (Veronica Mars fans will know).
Of course, Bad Moms doesn’t offer anything original, and one could argue that it does nothing but simply just gender swap guys for girls and have them do all various forms of debauchery that comes from being an R-Rated comedy (one of about three genres that is guaranteed a greenlight from a Hollywood movie studio nowadays), but there is something in either the writing or the performances that sell it more than these things do with a bunch of guys getting on this way.
Lessons are learned, and characters change for the better and the all hop onto a plane with Christina Applegate, friends forever. That is about as deep as a film involving its three leads talking about foreskin and penises go, but it’s still a great way to pass just over an hour and a half.
Whether or not a sequel, albeit of a festive variety, is warranted is something we’ll have to wait and see, and to be honest its production and release date a little over a year after the first is something that should bring up concern, almost as if it’s quickly trying to cash in, but watching the first movie raises good chuckles, and has a lovely message about what is to be a modern woman in this day and age when a woman is expected to have great job prospects and be a great wife and mother, whilst having to have dinner on the table for everyone.
Actually, it might just have an important point to make after all.
Are you a fan of Bad Moms? Will you be watching A Bad Moms Christmas? Let us know.