A Bad Moms Christmas ** (2017, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon, Cheryl Hines, Jay Hernandez, Peter Gallagher) – Movie Review

Writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore just about hold onto this raucous and vulgar seasonal sequel to Bad Moms, though it drifts away from them every now and again, finally losing the plot altogether at the inevitable ghastly sentimental ending that throws away any remaining reality along with the truth of their characters.

Of course, the bad moms this time turn out to be their own moms, who turn up on cue like bad pennies as the nightmares just before Christmas. The grannies are played by Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon and Cheryl Hines, who are given enough screen time – a lot – to hang themselves, overbalance the movie, and outshine the stars Mila Kunis (as Amy), Kristen Bell (as Kiki) and Kathryn Hahn (as Carla from the beauty parla). That is apart from Hahn, who is going to let nobody rain on her rude, crude parade.

The script is basically a series of situations and gags, interlinked by moms, sex and Christmas, playing relentlessly on the same notes. It must be really hard to keep this going for nearly two hours – and the strain shows – though, to be fair, there are laughs dotted around everywhere, some big one.

Cheryl Hines as Sandy and Kristen Bell as her daughter Kiki.

It does tend to turn into the Christine Baranski Show, doing her usual bad grannie schlep, but luckily she’s funny, now and again very funny. It should get boring because it’s the same old stuff, but it doesn’t. Baranski’s skill is to keep it fresh and funny. She’s a class act, no doubt. 

Less likeable is Kathryn Hahn, and she’d like to turn it into the Kathryn Hahn Show, but she doesn’t quite manage that. Less likeable she may be, and less skilled and funny than Baranski, but she is funny anyway. It’s a chilly turn, but that’s okay because it’s balanced by the warmth Kunis and Bell. Of course Kunis and Bell are not really funny people, but Kunis gets by on big-eyed, love-me acting, and Bell on being pleasantly humorous.

Of course Sarandon isn’t really a funny person either, and has to try to act it, and the sense of strain sets in quite early on, especially as she has to cope with the very big Hahn act as her daughter. The Oscar-winning Sarandon is basically slumming n work that’s below her, but it’s not too bad a role for her. Hines is okay, nothing special, but she fits in well as Bell’s mom.

All the men in the film are sidelined and pathetic, but always nice and charming. But then that’s okay, because men wrote the movie! Still, it is easy to feel sorry for Jay Hernandez (as Kunis’s bloke Jessie), Peter Gallagher (as Baranski’s hen-pecked hubby Hank), Lyle Brocato (as Bell’s husband) and Justin Hartley (as the stripper Ty Swindel), all of whom deserve better written roles, but are probably glad of the work anyway.

The kids – Oona Laurence and Emjay Anthony as Kunis’s children, and Cade Cooksey as Hahn’s son) –  have nothing to do, but that’s a lot more than Christina Applegate gets to do as Gwendolyn, which is less than nothing. Wanda Sykes gets just enough time to be funny with her counselling sessions as Dr Karl.

There is a lot crude sexual content and foul language throughout, and some drug use. The movie motors on it for its laughs.

Seeing this in the cold light of day at the start of November is not a good idea at all. It needs to be seen just a few days before Christmas by audiences who are inebriated, exhausted or just in a good mood because the shopping is finally done.

That’s it. Unfortunately, more Bad Moms holiday films are threatened, and it looks from the end of this one like A Bad Moms New Year might be the next.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

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