Reviewing Bad Moms is a difficult task due to the fact that its ambitions as a film are unclear throughout. I would compare it to that one college student you know who has changed his major enough times to still be nowhere near graduation despite all of his friends being long gone. It’s indecisive and because it’s indecisive, it’s pretty useless and unfunny.
Mila Kunis plays Amy Mitchell, a stressed out mother of two who decides one day to stop trying to be a perfect mom. With her two friends and fellow moms Carla (played by Kathryn Hahn in a one joke “I’m a promiscuous alcoholic! Laugh!” role) and Kiki (played by the always likable Kristen Bell who comes out unscathed here) she decides to finally rid herself of her cheating husband, stop forcing her kids to take all of the stupid classes and do all of the stupid activities that the experts (hacks) say kids need in 2016, drunkenly terrorize a grocery store (in a scene that will make anyone who has worked in similar places cringe), and throw a crazy (not really crazy) party. Meanwhile cartoonishly tyrannical PTA president Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate) decides to make their lives hell for refusing to conform to her fascist ideals.
What are you, Bad Moms? I sense the desire to be a rauchy early Seth Rogen type comedy occasionally but this thing seriously lacks edge. The sex jokes and drunken antics lack both shock value and humor value. There also seems be the desire to be a heartwarming celebration of motherhood the never comes to fruition due to 1) it’s tonal clash with the more vulgar material and 2) the lack of any characters to like or care about. It also fails as a “stick it to the man” exercise in rebelling against society’s standards for mothers due to the lack of any real world bearings. Applegate’s Gwendolyn is too much of an over-the-top comedy villain for this to work.
The laughs are scattered, but they are there and the performances for the most part are strong. It just never really commits strongly to one tone and it’s a bit of a confused mess for the most part. In terms of 2016 mom themed movies, it’s better than Mother’s Day though.