Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Bad Moms

November 1, 2016

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Bad Moms

STX Entertainment has been around for only about a year and during that time they haven’t had lot of box office success. Bad Moms changed that becoming the first film of theirs to reach the century mark. Did it deserve this success? Was it one of the funniest films of the summer?

The Movie

We meet Amy as she tells us about her life, which is mainly running around being late for meetings, whether they are at work, at her kids' school, sporting events, doctor appointments, etc. She’s always running around and never seems to have enough time. While dropping off her kids at school, Amy runs into Gwendolyn and her two sidekicks, Stacy and Vicky. Gwendolyn is what happens when Mean Girls grow up. Once at work, her day doesn’t improve, because her assistant is hungover / stoned and her boss is a moron. He piles more work on her, even though she’s technically just part time. When she gets home, her husband, Mike, doesn’t help her prepare dinner, while complaining about his hard day at work. He isn’t the least bit concerned when their son, Dylan, gets a D on his science quiz. Jane, their daughter, is panicking about getting on the soccer team. I’m not sure if Amy panicking with her is the healthiest choice, but at least she’s involved.

As bad as all of that is, Amy’s day gets worse when she catches Mike in his office with online porn. At least she thinks its porn. Turns out it's another woman on the other side of the computer screen and Mike has been doing this for nearly a year. She kicks him out, for good reason.

The next morning, Amy tells their kids that Mike went on a business trip. Mike didn’t do a lot around the house, but what little he did, Amy has to do herself now. Maybe she could have handled it, if nothing else went wrong, but the dog gets sick, which puts her even further behind than usual. Then at the emergency PTA meeting, Gwendolyn puts forth a series of demands with regards to the bake sale, and then “volunteers” Amy to be part of the food police, so Amy just quits. She heads to the bar where she meets Carla, who was already in the bar drinking. Shortly after that, Kiki comes in to say how impressed she is with what Amy did. The three of them spend the night drinking and bonding. ... and grocery shopping.

The next morning, Amy starts to do things differently. At first this really helps her and even her kids, but Gwendolyn remembers what she did at the PTA meeting and won’t let that fly.

It was a good summer for comedies with several that earned good reviews and topped $100 million. $100 million doesn’t seem like a lot in a year where there have been eight movies that earned $300 million or more at the domestic box office, but comedies rarely have the monster budget of action films like Captain America: Civil War have, for example. For instance, Bad Moms cost just $20 million to make, so it will make enough profit to pay for next three movies STX Entertainment releases.

As for why it was such a big success, I think it is a combination of quality and lack of competition. Bad Moms has a great cast, including the three leading ladies. For this movie to work, we would have to believe these characters could be moms and pull off the raunchier aspects of the movie. All three do a great job in that regard. Their comedic timing is amazing. Additionally, Mila Kunis has really good chemistry with Oona Laurence, who plays her daughter. (That’s not to say Emjay Anthony is bad, but the pair don’t have as much screen time together.)

There is also a good message in the movie, as it deals with the pressures of being a modern mother; however, this is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, without the message, the film wouldn’t be engaging. The raunchiness wouldn’t have a purpose or a sharp contrast. It could have still been a funny movie, but it would have been a lot more disposable. On the other hand, the film tries a little too hard to be sentimental in the end and this is a cliché that will make some of the audience members roll their eyes. I certainly did. That said, this is a minor complaint compared to the overall quality of the movie.

The Extras

There is a disappointing amount of extras. There is a six-minute gag reel, 17-minutes of deleted scenes, and finally the full Cast and Mom Interviews. We see snippets of these interviews in the end credits of the movie, but here you can watch all 24 minutes of the interviews.

The Verdict

Bad Moms is one of the funniest movies of the summer and while it isn’t a classic, it has enough replay value to be worth watching more than once. The extras on the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack are not great, but overall it is still worth buying over just renting.

Filed under: Video Review, Captain America: Civil War, Bad Moms, Christina Applegate, Kristen Bell, Clark Duke, Kathryn Hahn, Mila Kunis, Jada Pinkett Smith, Megan Ferguson, Annie Mumolo, David Walton, Emjay Anthony, Oona Laurence