Film Review - A Bad Moms Christmas (15)

You're a mom. Moms don't enjoy. They give joy.

I'm at a disadvantage on this one, as I didn't see Bad Moms. I got the gist from the trailer though - three modern young mums/moms bonded over the fact that they were perceived as inadequate parents by the fascistic supermoms at their local PTA group. They duly misbehaved, asserting that they weren't solely defined by the fact that they'd given birth. They're not bad moms really, you see, just harassed parents in need of some steam-venting. The critical consensus seems to be that the film was more fun than you might have expected, with spirited performances from the leads. 

A Bad Moms Christmas is a festive rehash in the style of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, only without Chevy Chase and the Griswolds to enliven it. As such my expectations for it were low, which is probably the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did. Yes its basic existence could be dismissed as cynically commercial and it's substantially more sugar-coated than say BBC2's edgy parental sitcom Motherland, but there's cheerfully low-grade fun to be had here nonetheless.

Much of this is probably due to the fact that the writers (the guys who gave us the original plus three Hangovers) find a way to avoid a straight retread-plus-tinsel. Yes it's still Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn at the centre as our three occasionally errant moms (the regular one, the ditzy one and the raunchy life-of-the-party respectively). For this Yuletide outing, however, the girls are joined by their own mothers, each of whom threatens in her own way to dampen the festivities and turn the already problem-fraught Christmas season into hell. Kunis' mom is overbearing and judgmental, Bell's insufferably clingy and Hahn's a good-time flake who's likely to break her daughter's heart for the umpteenth time. Meet the Bad Moms' bad moms.

If this all sounds massively contrived, of course it is, and pretty shmaltzy to boot. But the older generation of women grab the comedy material along with their 30-something counterparts and damn well shake it until the laughs come out. And what gals they are.

Christine Baranski is probably my favourite, playing a variant on the monster she created in The Big Bang Theory. She rocks her appalling character, letting slip glimmers of the vulnerability beneath and winning over the audience with sheer comic bravura. Cheryl Hines (Larry David's longsuffering wife in Curb Your Enthusiasm) demonstrates similar comedy chops, making the insufferably needy mom funny rather than unbearable. And Susan Sarandon - well she continues her life's work of redefining 'sassy', embracing the grandmom-behaving-badly role with open loving arms. 

With the men sidelined to eye-candy duties (Peter Gallagher shows up as a lovably cardigan-ed grandad!), this proves a fine comedy ensemble of women; the younger crew portray the warm, sanity-rescuing friendship that presumably made the first film a hit and the more mature crowd gamely matches them. While this don't reach the heights of the magnificently funny Bridesmaids, I did find it a much more enjoyable ride than this year's Girls Trip, the mawkish elements never being allowed to take over and the cruder moments genuinely delivering. 

I said it regarding Happy Death Day and I'll restate it here - low expectations can really prove your friend. This isn't great cinema by a stretch (and necking about a litre of mulled wine pre-viewing would no doubt enhance the experience), but these two generations of bad moms are undeniably good company.

Gut Reaction: I laughed, and then I laughed again, and quite remarkably I laughed some more. And never once did I wish it would end.

Ed's Verdict: Yes it's a big old Christmas cash-grab. Yes it's as predictable as it is implausible. But the gals sell the comedy like the pros they are, making this a surprisingly fun evening out.