'Bad Moms' are caring moms
The R-Rated comedy genre can be hit and miss. For every "Hangover" there's a "Hangover 2 and 3." It's tricky to know just how far to go with the humor. Too far and you end up with a movie like "Me, Myself & Irene," but find the stopping point that's just right and you end up with a comedy that's considered a classic, like "There's Something About Mary." "Bad Moms" lands firmly in the middle.
Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) is a very haggard mom. She works a part-time job that feels more like full-time. Her kids, Jane and Dylan, are in more extracurricular activities than she can count, which are on top of the mountains of homework Amy has to help them finish. Her husband, Mike (David Walton), is pretty much a third child and a day at his job sounds insultingly easier than Amy's complete day. On top of all this, Amy feels pressure from the "perfect" moms at the kids' school, led by PTA president Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate).
After one really rough day, that included kicking Mike out for having an online affair, Amy arrives late to a PTA meeting. When Gwendolyn volunteers her for a project, Amy tells her off and heads to a bar. There she runs into Carla (Kathryn Hahn), a single mom who's always hitting on the dads. They get joined by Kiki (Kristen Bell), a stay at home mom with a brood of kids, who was at the meeting and always wanted to do exactly what Amy had just done. Many drinks later, they decide it's time for them to go against the grain and become "bad" moms. They're no longer going to let the PTA moms dictate how they should parent and, hopefully, this will lift a ton of weight from their shoulders.
"Bad Moms" is a very funny R-Rated comedy, yet underneath the raunchy humor is a big heart. While most movies of this sort would save the feel-goods until the very end, the heart of this one is always just below the surface, popping up its head at various unexpected moments. Such as the scene where Amy decides Jane needs to play hooky and takes her for a day of pampering. It's a sweet, albeit brief, scene, that shows exactly why Amy is making this change in her lifestyle.
This heart is the thing that sets "Bad Moms" apart from other raunchy comedies. Amy isn't just being selfish. She's trying to ease the pressure on her entire family, and every time she begins to lose focus and forget why she started down this path to begin with, something happens to pull her back to reality.
This does cause the film to play things a little safer than a typical R-Rated comedy might. While the end product is very funny, there are definitely times where it could have allowed itself to go just that much further without stepping too far over the line. Especially when you consider the writer/directors are the same duo who wrote the first "Hangover." The overall heart of the movie also sticks us with a somewhat sappy climax. By that point, though, you have fallen in love with these characters enough to overlook the schmaltz.
Speaking of the characters, the three leads are fantastic. Mila Kunis continues to show how far she's come as an actress, and not just a comedic one, over the years. Kristen Bell is absolutely adorable as the beleaguered Kiki, who has been stuck at home with kids for so long she's become socially awkward. Kathryn Hahn is a stitch as Carla, definitely the wild child of the group, though you never can be certain how true a lot of her bragging is, especially in regards to her sexual conquests.
When the three of them are together, they play off each other so well. This camaraderie is most apparent during the scene when they are helping Amy get dressed for a night out at the bar, including one hilarious moment where Amy and Carla use Kiki and her hoodie for a demonstration that leaves Kiki majorly uncomfortable.
In what has been a fairly lackluster summer, "Bad Moms" is a bright spot comedy that might just make you want to call your own mom and thank her for all she put up with raising you.