The first time I saw the trailer for the movie Bad Moms my initial thought was, “Here we go again. Here is yet another movie/thing/commentary, about the poor overworked, overstressed, under appreciated mom.” The trailer features a wild, seemingly out of control house party complete with slow motion house party dancing and drinking. Moms taking a stand and saying No, bratty kids who seem to be ungrateful and rude, and a mean mom who, of course, is blonde.
Mila Kunis stars as Amy Mitchell who has a seemingly perfect life – a great marriage, an over-achieving kid (her son seems to be a bit of stereotype of a slacker man but perhaps that was deliberate), beautiful home, and a career. Amy, however, is over-worked, over-committed, and pushed to the edge when the demands of Queen Bee Gwendolyn, played by Christina Applegate, make Amy finally say, “Enough.” Amy teams up with equally stressed and underappreacuated moms Kiki (Kristen Bell in mousy wonderfulness) and Kathryn Hahn (perfect as a single mom owning her singleness) and they go on a quest to liberate themselves from conventional responsibilities – going on a wild binge of long-overdue freedom, fun, and self-indulgence – putting them on a collision course with PTA Queen Bee Gwendolyn and her clique of devoted perfect mom types.
Bad Moms was not quite the “same ole same ole” that I thought that it would be. I admit that I went in to the theater with some bias and was pleasantly surprised to find a movie about moms letting off steam, owning their roles as mom without apologizing (so much) for being a person with an identity other than mom. The whole plot line about the PTA is ridiculous, although as a casual attendee of my kid’s PTA meetings I may be missing some dynamics that are depicted in the movie (so let me know if I’m being foolish)
One of the reasons I was ready to dislike this movie is that other than Jada Pinkett Smith, the cast are all white women facing this issue. I have to wonder if Bad Moms would exist if this film featured women of color demanding to be more than their role as mom? Instead of focusing so much on the lack of women who looked like me, I thought back to when I was a younger mom and how my life so suddenly and drastically changed. I love The Bee but there were times when I had enough but did;’t have the space to voice that thought. I love that this movie encourages these women to exist as moms and as friends.
Buddy comedies always feature males who get to romp and play while their long suffering wives are holding babies or cooking. In this movie, roles are reversed and the women get to hang and interact as moms and, importantly, as people.
Two mini spoilers:
There is an adorable montage of Amy going out and trying to pick up a date. She blows as by “momming” it up. It’s funny; as a newly single mom I can recall a many a horrible bar interactions as I tried to be cool instead of being me. (snort)
Also, don’t rush off after the credits. The actresses appear with their moms and these moments are sweet and toughing.
Get your tickets here using my affiliate link from Fandango Buy Movie Tickets in Advance.and check out the movie. Let me know if you are an “Amy”, “Kiki” or “Carol.”
r’s note: Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a purchase I will receive a small commission. I was invited to free screening of this movie as a guest of Allied Integrated Marketing. This review is my own opinion.
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