Bad Moms falls squarely in the category of raunchy, pseudo-feminist comedies like Trainwreck, Sisters, and How to Be Single—films that think showing women partying, being irresponsible, and enjoying sex is somehow radical. (It’s not.) This isn’t a quality judgment, per se—those films were all pretty good!—just a somewhat exasperated observation. And, on its own terms, Bad Moms is also pretty good. But its view of motherhood feels downright retro.
Our hero is Amy (Mila Kunis), a harried mother of two who does everything—makes her kids breakfast, helps them construct elaborate art projects, shuttles them to and from school and extracurricular activities, and is even on the PTA—while maintaining a job at a trendy coffee distributor. What’s missing from this equation, of course, is her wastrel husband (David Walton), who lies on the couch expecting to be served like a king and is eventually caught having an online affair in his home office.
Amy’s arch nemesis is PTA president Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate), a grown-up Mean Girl in a gleaming white Range Rover, who judgmentally presides over the other moms as her two loyal sidekicks (Jada Pinkett Smith and Annie Mumolo) egg her on. After one particularly brutal day, Amy tells Gwendolyn off and catches the attention of the meek Kiki (Kristen Bell), a mother of four little ones with a bullying, male-chauvinist husband. They both end up at a bar, where they’re met by Carla (Kathryn Hahn), a rowdy, sex-obsessed, doesn’t-give-a-hoot single mother—essentially the Rizzo to Kiki’s Sandy. Together, they conspire to abdicate responsibility and, briefly at least, become the titular Bad Moms—drinking, partying, going to movies during the day, eating all the wrong food, and, yes, having sex.
All of this is often more spirited than funny, but it has its moments. The directors, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore—of The Hangover franchise—have knack for slo-mo montages set to trendy pop songs. A scene where the three moms descend upon a supermarket and go buck wild, as it were, is quite funny. Another scene, however, where Carla tries to pantomime the logistics of sex with an uncircumcised man (using Kiki’s hoodie, no less) practically screams, LOOK HOW EDGY WE ARE!
I wasn’t sure about Hahn—whom I absolutely adore from her work in Transparent, Afternoon Delight, et al—in such a broadly comedic role. It didn’t seem to play to her strengths (she has a kind of frazzled, low-key relatability). But damned if she isn’t audacious and hilarious in the part. Kristen Bell could play this kind of wide-eyed, good-girl naïf in her sleep, but she’s solid. And Kunis proves to be an deft and appealing comic lead, although she’s almost distractingly gorgeous. (She’s supposed to be surprised when the school’s dishy widower, played by Jay Hernandez, takes a liking to her. Suuuuuure.)
Amy has a perfectionist daughter (the exceedingly cute Oona Laurence), who observes her mom’s boycott (momcott?) and learns to loosen up, and a son (Emjay Anthony) who, curiously, Amy doesn’t seem to like that much. (I actually felt badly for the little tike when his mom suddenly stopped making his breakfast—it’s not his fault his dad is a good-for-nothing cheater.)
The film’s climactic scene is a pivotal PTA showdown between Gwendolyn and Amy. The room is positively packed with moms—only a tiny handful of men in the crowd. That doesn’t jibe with my sense of PTA meetings these days, where woke dads are encouraged to be active. Then again, the mom-heavy audience that I saw Bad Moms with was positively howling with laughter throughout. To them, the film was both funny and cathartic. How can I argue with that?
P.S. Stay through the closing credits.