Bad Moms

This review may contain spoilers!

A simple comedy that reminds us why a blunt, sweet and funny film can stand out from the crowd. I would give Bad Moms a 7.5/10.

This is an extremely funny film and probably one of the best comedies of the year, I found I was laughing throughout fairly consistently. There's two great stories intertwined here; one focusses and celebrates the complexities of being a Mum (especially a single Mum), while the other storyline is a basic beat the popular bully and then make the bully your friend - a simple narrative that made me think of several classic 90s comedies. I'm not normally one to remark upon end credit scenes either but this film has a really nice interview segment with the main cast and their mums; it's a charming touch that reminds you this film isn't just a simple crazy comedy but rather a celebration of motherhood. The score for this film is extremely energetic which keeps the film moving along really nicely; there's also a great soundtrack that really adds to the film in a big way.

Kathryn Hahn, who played Carla, is one of the strongest comedic talents within the film; she is meant to be generally quite ridiculous and fun but she does have a couple of nice heartfelt scenes too. Kristen Bell, who played Kiki, was a rather sweet meek role; I appreciated how Bell developed the character from a soft-spoken character at the whim of her husband to a strong woman aware of her own self-worth. Christina Applegate, who played Gwendolyn, was the perfect antagonist for this film; she was the queen bee villain who went right through a good redemptive arc to become likeable by the end. David Walton, who played Mike, was a great immature character who bounced off Kunis really well; the understanding we come to get of this character and his relationship to Kunis' is really good and quite a strong message. Jay Hernandez, who played Jessie Harkness, could have been just a token love interest but his charisma made him immediately more likeable than a stereotypical role; I felt like his character had a real connection with Kunis and I enjoyed seeing scenes with the two of them together. Wendell Pierce, who played Principal Burr, was quite a fun minor role; he certainly played up the more serious aspects of his principal role but his jokes around weed were also hilariously delivered. Lyle Brocato, who played Kent, was an interesting element of the film; Brocato's character was being incredibly harsh towards Bell's character and in that regard created a subplot that was really interesting to watch unfold. Wanda Sykes, who played Dr Karl, presented one of the more genuine scenes of the film; she guided Kunis' role and Walton's role along a very interesting and funny therapy scene which played out nicely. J.J. Watt, who played Coach Craig, was a rather uniquely funny minor role; I enjoyed the sport character was neither intimidating or especially masculine but rather a stay at home cat guy. Martha Stewart, who played herself, was a brilliant cameo in this film; I appreciated that Stewart was given the opportunity to be funny on her own times and wasn't really at the whim of the script so much.

However the best performance came from Mila Kunis, who played Amy. Kunis really took charge in this film as a capable lead, she had the emotional range to keep you hooked upon the narrative but she was also funny and held her own alongside the rest of the cast. This role really goes through such a strong growth as a character, learning to teach her kids to be responsible on their own as well as taking charge of her own life. Kunis is a fierce performer that you can really empathise with, she absolutely knocks it out of the park with this one.

This film is let down by it's tendency to be a bit too simplistic at times; the narrative follows a very generic model and ultimately everything that takes place is predictable. The cinematography is a huge let down, there's no attempt to make this film look good or to give it any form of visual style. The editing isn't much help, the montage scenes look nice but that's about as far as the effort went.

Jada Pinkett Smith, who played Stacy, is up to absolutely nothing in this film; Smith fails to stand out as a comedic actress and is offered up some of the worst lines of the film. Annie Mumolo, who played Vicky, was even more unnecessary than Smith's role; I found Mumolo to be a weak third antagonist in a film when only one antagonist was ever really needed. Oona Laurence, who played Jane, is trying far too hard to be taken seriously in this film; Laurence's acting undercuts the comedic tone of the film and she definitely lets down a few scenes. Emjay Anthony, who played Dylan, was cast to the background more often than not; clearly an instance where the writers didn't give the role anything to do. Clark Duke, who played Dale Kipler, was an odd cartoon-like character that this film didn't really need; his attempts at humour were more weird than anything else. Megan Ferguson, who played Tessa, gave a very wooden performance in her minor role; a character that just really felt like one too many in the office scenes. Cade Mansfield Cooksey, who played Jaxon, was a really dull role; the relationship between him and Hahn was just not there at all.