Ummm … you know that if Mila Kunis wanted to get picked up by a guy in a bar, they’d literally line up for her, right? Guys would easily dismiss the mono-bra and entrenched mom flirting to get in on that. “No, no, tell me all about your vertigo-afflicted dog; it’s kinda hot.” This is important, because these are the things which kept nerve-striking Bad Moms from being the comedic gender anthem that, say, Bridesmaids is.
I almost feel sorry for Bad Moms because you know this a film many, many, many women want to see and will enjoy. A lot. Geez, film, you were thisclose to being the kind of project which will make Mila Kunis remembered forever. In the end, however, you’re still falling back on the old clichés. What is the deal with the hunky widower, anyway? When did this become the single woman’s Moby Dick? (Want to know how many single men lust after widows? No, go on, guess.) And when does single parent Jessie (Jay Hernandez) find time to work out? You know he ain’t got any more free time than you got. I digress.
Amy (Kunis) doesn’t start out a bad mom. In fact, we see her struggling to maintain the impossible ideal of modern womanhood – kids, job, looks, youth (relative youth, at least). She puts herself together pretty well, in fact, considering she’s feeding the kids, doing their homework, and planning their lives while dad (David Walton) is having a Skype affair. The affair was too much, btw. You had our sympathy before this moment. Yeah, the helicopter parenting was over the top, as is her PTA rival Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate), but, honestly, you don’t have to exaggerate. You don’t.
You want us to feel your plight? You don’t need an affair. All you gotta do is put up a split screen of your day v. His day. Shot one – you feed the kids and get their lunches together/he plays Pokémon Go on his phone. Shot two – you drive the kids to school, he blasts Sabbath while running lights for fun. Shot three – You’re both late for work, it’s a breeze for him, a bitch for you. Shot four – you’re both in meetings. You both offer the exact same idea, but while his is accepted cuz he’s a man, yours is considered an “overreach.” I don’t need to go on; this is a much more poignant way of arriving at the same place – and you don’t need him to have an affair; that just makes him a douche. And every insensitive mode of behavior prior is dwarfed by the fact that there’s a live naked woman on his computer screen.
At this point, Amy snaps and becomes bad mom, dragging the manpecked Kiki (Kristen Bell) and single floozy Carla (Kathryn Hahn) along for the alcohol-besotted, child-neglected ride. The challenges come from the anal-branch encumbered Gwendolyn, 
who has a weird vice-like grip on all school officers, duties and denizens. BTW, does it bother anybody else that Melissa McCarthy made fun of Kristen Bell’s bra in The Boss and Bell turns and does the same exact thing to Mila Kunis in Bad Moms? This woman on woman crime must stop!
Bad Moms is paint by numbers. I’ve pointed out many of the film’s flaws, adding to such the impractical – how does one fund being a “bad mom,” hmmmm? Yet for all the faults obvious and otherwise, there is no question this film has tapped into the ethos of the brow-beaten suburban wife, house- or otherwise. There is no question in my mind that many women, those who both suffer at the hands of oppressive husbands and those who don’t, will find a kindred spirit in Mila and the other Bad Moms. Now that generally isn’t enough for me, sorry to say, so I will add that I laughed out loud several times in this film … in fact I laughed a little too loud at Carla using Kiki and her zip-up sweatshirt to demonstrate the proper way to manipulate the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis.
If you enter with a sympathetic disposition, you’re almost certainly going to have a good time here.
♪She’s got a way to school
I don’t know how she goes
But I’m sure her people will be cruel
She’s got a slimy hubby
I don’t who he is
But his soul’s four shades of grubby anyway
She’s got a job that sucks ass
I don’t know why she goes
But her boss ain’t got an ounce of class
She’s got two kids so needy
I don’t know what’s up with that
But the helicoptrin’ makes ‘em greedy anyhow
She’s gonna break sometime so soon
Fifth of Jack before it’s noon
Watch out, gang, she’s on the road to ruin
She’s got an enemy mother
I don’t know what’s up her butt
But Mean Girls doesn’t need a brother
And she’s found a crowd to cheer her
I don’t who they are
But if you’re male, don’t come nearer anytime♫
Rated R, 101 Minutes
D: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
W: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Genre: Womanpower!
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Moms
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Misogynists
♪ Parody inspired by “She’s Got a Way”
