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It would be great to have Kathryn Hahn’s character attend any social function I have to go to. Weddings would be 100x more exciting and erotic.

Bad Moms tells the story of one mom, Amy Mitchell played by the way too gorgeous Mila Kunis, who has had enough of doing absolutely everything for her incredibly stupid family including a gourmet breakfast every morning, taking the little shits to school AND doing the homework for one, working at a Facebook for Coffee-esque office, picking the little shits up from school, going grocery shopping and cooking for her literal worthless husband + children. She decides her and two other moms (well one, really… Hahn’s character is technically the spokesperson of the title of the movie and Kristen Bell‘s character is just there) are going to go balls out and Mitchell’s family may actually have to pour some cereal for breakfast for once!

This R-rated comedy (14A here in Canada) is the very definition of a conventional comedy, with the story being virtually predictable from the get go. A few characters are complete caricatures and the plot follows the beat by beat story arc of the redemption of the down-on-her-luck protagonist to a very tee. What I will say about Bad Moms is the performances are fantastic; some may find Hahn’s character obnoxious at times but I indulged in every scene she was in because she was very funny. She and Annie Mumolo‘s characters were by far the superstars of this movie, every time they were on screen they had something hilarious to say and I loved that. Mila Kunis played her role well and I actually really liked the chemistry her, Bell & Hahn had together, you could tell these women enjoyed filming together and that really exudes on screen. Kristen Bell had her moments, a rather funny one involved a sweater, and Christina Applegate as Gwendolyn played the role of the antagonist with some of the funniest lines in the movie pretty well. Really the only problem with characters I had were Jada Pinkett-Smith who was delegated to a “GURRRRRRRRRRL!” role which grew tiresome incredibly quickly and the love interest played by Jay Hernandez, his character literally had nothing to work with except a) look pretty (which he truly nailed) and b) say things that would make women swoon.

There were a few moments that made me have those belly laughs you crave for in a comedy, particularly a Mom Party that genuinely made me laugh and almost any time it was just the three women together. Again, Annie Mumolo’s character only had a few minutes of screen time but oh man, the lines she was given and her delivery were spectacular! The soundtrack was also one of my favourites in recent memory, they had a great mix of the fun contemporary stuff you hear on the radio and the ’80s jams you listen to disgustingly loud in your car (I want to know what love is too, Foreigner!) There were occasional moments that made you feel like you were watching a music video and a utilization of slow mo I wasn’t prepared for but it was an interesting tactic to use. There was also a ton of colour in this movie, many shots had a sense of vibrancy to them and it certainly looked nice to watch.

As I mentioned the plot is thoroughly predictable which isn’t always a bad thing as long as the performances are lively and the story is interesting… My biggest issue I had with this movie is its ending. The final ten minutes or so made me roll my eyes so far in the back of my head you’d have called me Regan MacNeil. There were a few awkward moments in the movie I could forgive because they made me laugh but oh my god I really could’ve done without that ending that tied everything together with an obnoxiously perfect bow tie. It’s perfectly fine if some things are left for ambiguity and the audience must conjure up what will happen next in their lives. Having said all that, I would certainly watch it again on a Saturday afternoon when it pops up on the W network (basically a Canadian Lifetime channel) except I may end up going on my phone for those last few minutes.

If you want to see a comedy that will make you laugh at certain parts and have an hour and a half to kill, check out Bad Moms.

Bad Moms receives 3.5/5 Matt Damon heads.