2017 in Cinema:
A Bad Moms Christmas, 2017
Directed by: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Cheryl Hines, Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon
A Bad Moms Christmas sees the trio of bad mothers decide, once again, to be bad mothers instead of good. This time, however, they’re joined by each of their own mothers. Amy (Mila Kunis, Bad Moms) is joined by her mother, Ruth (Christine Baranski, Chicago), Kiki (Kristen Bell, Bad Moms) is joined by her mother, Sandy (Cheryl Hines), and Carla (Kathryn Hahn, Bad Moms) is joined by her mother, Isis (Susan Sarandon). And, much like its original, it’s funny from start to finish, but isn’t without criticism.
One major criticism I had of this film was the characters of the mothers. While they were funny (and Christine Baranksi hilariously reprises her role of Leonard’s mother from The Big Bang Theory) they were practically an over-exaggerated version of their daughters. Ruth is a more workaholic version of Amy (although they are the most opposite as the film primarily revolves around the conflict between them two), Sandy is a crazier version of Kiki and Isis is a more party-girl version of Carla. It just means our original trio of mothers are copied and pasted with a few minor adjustments to the new trio of mothers.
There were a few other areas where issues were: the first being how December 19th is five days away from Christmas. The film is taken one day at a time (counting down from six) but when the screen tells us it’s ‘Five days til Christmas’ (I also dislike how they use ‘til’ rather than having an apostrophe before it or ‘until’) the characters tells us it’s December 19th. While it may seem like a simple mistake to make, it does show that the writers and directors weren’t completely communicating with one another. And I tried giving them the benefit of the doubt (there are five days between December 19th and Christmas Day) but the countdown goes until Christmas Eve so it is a mistake. They also don’t address the year it was set in, as it’s Amy’s kids’ first Christmas without their father, but their father left in the first film over a year ago.
That aside, much like the first, though, it was funny from start to finish. It was more crude than the first, but that still ended up with some hilarious moments. And, while I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s better or worse than the first, there are more stuff going on in this film rather than the first’s. Each mother has a turbulent relationship with their mother, which plays quite nicely with grandkids being involved, and there are fewer ‘bad mother’ speeches in this film. Naturally there are a couple to drive the plot along, but there aren’t as many as the first, which is quite thankful, but it does still have its plethora of musical montages and crazy moments.
It’s a funny film, although not a flawless film. The new-mother characters are a bit disappointing in that they are a more hyper version of the original trio’s personality but they add a nice new dynamic to the series.
Plot: * * * Acting: * * * Writing: * * * Presentation: * * *
Steve James 