Bad Moms

Bad Moms

Every mother has been there – the feeling of being a complete failure and then some. The overwhelming pressure to be everything for everyone is only compounded by the guilt that you’re always letting someone down: your kids, significant other, fellow moms, boss, yourself.

“Bad Moms” gets that universal experience surprisingly it was written by two men directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore but it balances its kernels of truth with laugh out loud raunchy humor. Friends liberating themselves through totally inappropriate behavior is something Lucas and Moore know a little something about: They wrote the first “The Hangover” movie and penned and directed 2013 college romp “21 & Over,” which I liked better than most critics did. Here they show an unexpected knack for real-world insight while still giving us slo-mo party montages of women drunkenly raiding the grocery store, bouncing up and down while chugging from vodka bottles and making out with each other to thumping dance music.

That’s a tricky combination to pull off, and Lucas and Moore do hit some slightly awkward tonal shifts in more dramatic scenes. But among “Bad” movies like “Bad Santa,” “Bad Teacher,” “Bad Grandpa” this one’s actually pretty good. For the film to be about more than just wildly outrageous behavior (though those moments are certainly the biggest laughs), these have to feel like real people whom we care about too; which we do thanks to a strong cast of comic actresses who have an easy chemistry between them.

Mila Kunis stars as Amy, wife of husband David Walton who fathers her two children in suburban Chicago. A young mom who became pregnant at 20 with high school sweetheart (Walton) seems overworked in early thirties when she holds down part-time job plus raises two kids (Oona Laurence/Emjay Anthony) mostly alone because spouse doesn’t help much whatsoever except maybe buy groceries sometimes or make breakfast occasionally within driving distance near their various classes/practices/games but honestly even PTA responsibilities don’t require that many hours spent there anyway so at least give credit where due towards laziness displayed here since all else considered equal should probably average out somewhere around each week during fall months.

On a day when everything goes wrong at once Amy snaps decides she can’t try anymore so now she’ll be wait for it Bad Mom Judgy moms running school appalled by idea not trying anymore led Christina Applegate tyrannical PTA president Gwendolyn Applegate brings just right amount icy catty cool plus gets revisit Veronica Corningstone hair “Anchorman” movies Despite extremes Gwendolyn eventually goes though fundamental realism this figure too These people exist. I know whereof. I speak having been room parent my son’s class past three years row.

But Amy finds unlikely allies in two other mothers who also are ready to stop struggling to hold it all together. Kunis has a boozy bonding session at a neighborhood bar with Kiki (Kristen Bell, enjoying a “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” reunion with Kunis), a nerdy and needy mother of four whose coldly controlling husband demands that she do everything around the house; and Carla (Kathryn Hahn), the brazen single mother of a sweetly oafish baseball player who has no other friends because of her unapologetically profane and promiscuous ways.

All three actresses have great energy between them as they play such different personalities. And how wonderful it is to see a film about this kind of friendship during the male dominated summer blockbuster season just two weeks after the all-women “Ghostbusters” remake. If we’re going to keep comparing these films, then Hahn serves as Kate McKinnon’s figure gloriously unpredictable, willing to try anything and impossible to take your eyes off. Going weird and dark has always been her forte, but “Bad Moms” lets Hahn go next-level though there’s loyalty and decency about Carla that round her out nicely.

While we’re talking about female driven comedies, however, Bad Moms comes with more than a touch of Nine to Five, which I mention as an enormous compliment because it was one of my favorite movies growing up. Like Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton in that groundbreaking 1980 film, Kunis; Bell; and Hahn play three women from different backgrounds who band together against their common oppressor in order to overturn the unjust system. Their answer is for Amy running against Gwendolyn for PTA president that leads into wild party involving some inspired celebrity cameo appearance(s).

Watch Bad Moms For Free On Gomovies.