Movie Review - Bad Moms

Bad Moms ** (out of 5) (R) Think of this as Mean Girls or Heathers for Soccer Moms. But less hip, and less funny. In an affluent suburban middle school, Christina Applegate is the bitchy beauty who runs the PTA and every aspect of the school with a white-gloved iron fist. The premise of her degree of control is absurd, but that ain’t the only flaw to be found. Mila Kunis is an overwhelmed working mom with a slacker hubby, idiotic boss, and two kids she wishes she had more time for.

When pushed too far by the bully faction of demanding priggish peers, she challenges Applegate for the presidency on a platform of easing the pressure on harried parents and their overscheduled progeny. She’s helped by two new pals -a mousy Kristen Bell, and a crude, ballsy Kathryn Hahn. The latter is the film’s greatest asset. After years of playing mostly flaky comedy sidekicks to a parade of leading ladies, she delivers most of the big laughs and energy the film has to offer.

The screenplay makes some good points at the expense of Tiger Moms, and other control freaks who seemingly push their kids to achieve with a questionable degree of how much they want the best for the young ‘uns versus braggin’ rights for their own egos. Many of the jokes about pampering, overprotecting, food obsessions, political correctness, and judgmental attitudes among parents being worse than how the kids treat each other entertain while scoring satiric points.

But the comedy content is sadly lacking, with long, ineffective stretches, and a cast of talented actors largely reduced to playing caricatures, more than characters. (7/29/16)