Bad Moms
When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence.
Cast
Mila Kunis – Amy Mitchell
Kathryn Hahn – Carla
Christina Applegate – Gwendolyn
Kristen Bell – KiKi
Jada Pinkett Smith – Stacy
Annie Mumolo – Vicky
Jay Hernandez – Jessie Harkness
Oona Laurence – Jane Mitchell
Emjay Anthony – Dylan Mitchell
David Walton – Mike Mitchell
Hilarious
Bad Moms.
When I first heard about this movie, I did wonder.. and hoped it wouldn’t be one of those god-awful productions where a bunch of female cast are thrown together with a shit script, trying to force bad humour on their audience. I’ll mention no names.
(A-HEM, What to Expect When You’re Expecting).
Yes, as my ticket was torn at the entrance to the auditorium, I hoped.
And wondered.
And made my way in..
…I resurfaced from the movie just over 99 minutes later feeling like I’d just watched the funniest thing I’ve seen in years. I felt totally refreshed, laughed out. In fact, I was buzzing so much from Bad Moms I turned to the girl who was sat a few seats down from me outside, and gushed: “that was fantastic”.
She was foreign, I don’t think she knew why I was gushing, but responded, “that was very good yes”.
Win.
I loved it.
The foreign chick loved it.
And the rest of the audience were laughing heartily throughout.
Bad Moms is just brilliant. It’s built on so much observant humour that most of the script rings strikingly true to real life; I.E. relationship issues, the graphic description of sexual organs, people’s hectic schedules and stressed lives, attitudes and opinions. And this humour is delivered by such deadpan faces (Hahn and Applegate rule the screen with this) that I literally howled with laughter during particular scenes.
What this movie excels at most is its portrayal of real-life scenarios, thus coming across more of a stand-up comedy show than a film. This ensures it breaks away from your standard staged Hollywood bullshit, giving the viewer ladies who definitely ‘bring it’ in terms of comedic timing and comedy value.
There’s nothing more I can say; the cast are fantastic.
Hahntastic
Katherine Hahn. Just superb. In my personal opinion, she is the best member of cast. Carla is everything you could want in a wayward mother; her slutty dress sense, bolshy sense of humour and shameless way of approaching others, even her brutal honesty. It’s brilliant to watch as Hahn steadily unleashes her wonderfully intolerable character. She clearly got given the best parts of the script too, with most of her lines making us audience laugh out loud. The scene where Amy, Carla and Kiki stand observing thenselves in a bathroom mirror is fucking hilarious, with Carla using a piece of clothing on one of their heads to describe the functioning of a foreskin. I genuinely found myself hooting at every other word that came out of Hahn’s mouth. She was comedy gold.
This doesn’t stop either. The puns, offensive wisecracks, innuendos, foul language all keep coming at a rate that would impress Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy. You’re dealing with some real random one-liner’s here too (I.E. “I say we punch that chick right in the tits”) which are the icing on the cake.. with a shitload of cherries on top. The actress couldn’t have nailed it any better.
Top marks here. Oh, and that supermarket scene – good god..
Applegate is second in line to the comedy throne with PTA president Gwendolyn. The woman (I personally reckon) has perfect ‘comedy eyes’. That icy stare as she drops one sarcastic comment after another is excellent, along with glazed facial expressions void of all emotion. Gwendolyn makes the perfect enemy in Bad Moms, I can’t fault any part of Applegate’s performance at all. She had me entertained highly – and constantly.
What Went Wrong
I hate this bit, especially with a movie I loved. But far be it from me to remain one-sided in my opinions..
There are too many fuck’s in this movie. Not the physical kind (unfortunately), but too many uses of the actual word ‘fuck’. Bad Moms is laced with foul language and although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the overall atmosphere, I found the overuse of the ‘F word’ slightly tedious. Even during a scene involving the three ‘bad guy’ mothers (Gwendolyn, Vicky and Stacy); Gwendolyn says something. Vicky basically repeats what she said. Gwendolyn responds, “I just fucking said that Vicky”.
Unnecessary. And almost makes it look like the director was trying a bit too hard to be entertaining.
Bad Moms lacks substance in certain places. Although its scenes are not boringly lengthy and actually quite snappy, it seems empty at times. For example, Amy’s family issues jump to Gwendolyn’s thirst for school success, to something else. No character’s background (other than Amy) is fully exposed, and backing characters seem to come and go. And this is mainly where the stand-up element comes into play; I mean, who needs to know about the backstage crew when you have the comedian spurting jokes on stage?
BAD MOMS
Bad Moms has to be one of the most refreshing comedies I have seen in quite a while. I went along assuming it would be a load of tacky bullshit, and left the cinema pleasantly surprised. It brings together an ensemble of highly effective ladies – each with her own quirks – and injects a hilarious script into their performance. And with gags flowing from the screen every fifteen seconds at least, fans of comedy are in for a real treat.
An added bonus is the movie’s vibrant soundtrack which features hits such as Walk The Moon’s Shut Up and Dance, Cake By The Ocean by DNCE, Work from Home by Fifth Harmony, and Icona Pop’s I Love It.
As mentioned earlier, it’s the honest humour I appreciated most. Most of us have seen dodgy penises before, or been stressed out. Or known someone with such a filthy mouth that they are a genuine pleasure to be around. Bad Moms reflects this and so much more.
If it’s comedy you want, look no further. Kick back and prepare to be fully entertained.
Fantastic stuff.
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