Bad Moms in a merry muddle
Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Susan Sarandon Christmas — it’s the mother of all holidays. LIKE any good sequel — and even a few bad ones — Bad Moms 2 raises the stakes.
The first mums-cuttingloose comedy had its overstressed and underappreciated title trio, played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, reclaiming their lives from ungrateful, insensitive families and a judgmental social network of friends by simply doing what they wanted for a change.
But a bad mom’s work is HEAL THE LIVING This compassionate French drama follows the unique relationship between an organ donor and recipient. (MA, Pivotonian) Reese Witherspoon’s efforts to enjoy her newly single status are complicated by her new friendship with a trio of young men. (M, Reading) This incisive documentary never done, it seems, especially when the first Bad Moms movie was a surprise smash hit at the box office.
So Bad Moms 2 has the three women taking on an even greater hazard to their mental health and emotional stability — the Christmas season, that time of year when a mother is expected to give, give, give, not receive.
And as if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the bad mums of Bad Moms have the ultimate passive-aggressive nightmare to deal with.
That’s right: their own mothers.
Look, I’m not about to state a case that the first Bad Moms was some kind of comedy classic, but it did cleverly use looks at race relations in 1960s America through the eyes of great author and activist James Baldwin. (M, Pivotonian) some very real ideas about frustration, exhaustion and empowerment to tell a relatable story and get a few good, genuine laughs while providing a showcase for three talented actors.
There’s the suspicion that Bad Moms 2 wanted to try something similar by exploring the various ways mothers and daughters can get under each other’s skins, whether by caring too much or not enough.
But the set-ups and pay-offs this time around feel a little too broad and obvious, making the movie come across like the raunchiest ever episode of a so-so sitcom.
The jokes are there, sure, but without the underlying The very proper spies of England’s secret Kingsman society join forces with their rowdy American counterparts to save the world.
(MA, Village) Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins star in this unlikely love story, based on a true story, about a reclusive man and his housekeeper who dreams of