Film Review: Bad Moms (2016)

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When one problem is solved, it often turns out that the solution is nothing more than an entirely new problem. Cynical historians might similarly comment on the achievements of the women’s rights movement in the last century, noting that women then succeeded (at least in what is considered the “civilised” or modern Western world) in achieving legal and political equality with men, but consequently faced challenges their mothers and grandmothers could not have imagined. This primarily concerns the shift in the previous paradigm of female life success, which was reduced to choosing a good husband and which today has not so much been altered as supplemented by the imperative of a successful professional career. Successful women today are thus expected not only to provide bread on the table and a roof over their families’ heads but also to care for such families as top-notch homemakers, wives, and mothers. Reconciling such imperatives is quite difficult, especially during economic crises or in ultra-competitive societies like America. This state of affairs has not only brought a fortune to the pharmaceutical industry and psychotherapists but also inspiration for filmmakers less inclined towards conformity. Among them are Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the screenwriting duo behind The Hangover, whose 2016 comedy Bad Moms tackles the lives of contemporary middle-class American mothers.

Life of Amy Mitchell’s (Mila Kunis), the film’s protagonist, at first glance appears to be the realisation of everything Hollywood has sold generations as the American Dream—she lives in a more than respectable suburban home, has a husband, two adorable children, and a job at a “cool” coffee distribution startup. However, her life is far from idyllic, as maintaining the family-professional utopia demands increasing physical and mental exertion; although her children attend primary school, Amy is forced to monitor their school and extracurricular activities to ensure they achieve the grades necessary for admission to a prestigious university; her colleagues at the company, including her boss (Clark Duke), are twenty-somethings convinced that looking ‘cool’ is sufficient for business success, forcing her to do all the actual work, and it eventually emerges that her husband (David Walton) shows more interest in the woman with whom he maintains an online affair than in his family. Amy’s frustrations explode when she confronts Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate), the president of the parent-teacher association who runs it like a totalitarian state. It is precisely because of her that Amy “snaps” and decides, at least temporarily, to stop playing the perfect mother and seeks an outlet in night-outs, alcohol, and other men. In this, she is supported by two very different women—the modest homemaker, wife, and mother of four, Kiki (Kristen Bell), and the promiscuous divorcee , Carla (Jessica Hahn). This newly formed trio has a great time, but then decides to overthrow Gwendolyn’s reign of terror in the upcoming elections.

It would be difficult to say that Bad Moms involved any exceptional creative effort. Not only could the core plot be found in countless television sitcoms worldwide, but the style and type of humour are also copied both from The Hangover and from today’s common Hollywood comedies about seemingly “normal” women who ‘snap’ and behave just as rudely as the worst male frat boys. Beyond a few interesting observations on the generational gap emerging between today’s middle-aged Generation X (whose values are embodied by the 32-year-old Kunis) and millennials, it’s hard to imagine viewers encountering anything they haven’t seen before in one way or another. The lack of scriptwriting inspiration, most evident in the terribly banal scene where Amy ‘hooks up’ with the attractive widower (whom Jay Hernandez plays like a male Barbie), is, on the other hand, more than compensated for by an exceptionally lively and diverse cast. Kunis, whose film career stems from sitcoms, handles the role of the frustrated homemaker quite well, as could also be said of Bell, who specialises in such roles. The biggest discovery is Hahn as an unstoppable man-eater and the antithesis of everything ‘polite society’ considers the ideal of femininity, both aesthetically and morally. When this trio comes together, their comedic talents create a new quality that, at least for a while, transcends the prosaic nature of the basic plot. Even Christina Applegate successfully handles the rather thankless role of the caricatural villain. Although the film’s most creative moment is reserved for the closing credits, and although the best ‘gags’ will primarily resonate with women—particularly those who can afford to have children in their prime years (and of whom, given economic and cultural trends, there are increasingly fewer today)—Bad Moms still finds its way to a wider audience and, as such, is not a complete waste of time. This is something that cannot be said for many far noisier Hollywood films released in summer of 2016.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)

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