<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore. Starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christina Applegate, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jay Hernandez, David Walton, Emjay Anthony, Oona Laurence, Annie Mumolo

Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes

When it first starts off my friend and me reached for our phones to Google ‘Bad Moms running time’ to see how long we’d have to bear it. Surprisingly, it turned out to be more fun and engaging than Ghostbusters, which we caught before it.

Mila Kunis as a mom jars a bit. She still looks like That 70s Show girl. In Bad Moms she’s Amy Mitchell, the mother of two, who strives to be a ‘super mom’. That’s also because her husband Mike (David Walton) is a lazy bum. So she works at a start-up coffee bean-making company as the resident ‘adult’ while also taking care of her kids Dylan (Emjay Anthony) and Jane (Oona Laurence) and attending all the PTA meetings and events scheduled by the school tyrant and head of all things Parent Teacher related, Gwendolyn James (Christina Applegate).

Bad Moms starts off slapstick vulgar but gradually eases into something a bit more insightful: moms have it tough and nowadays they have to keep up with school, homework, breakfast, extra-curricular activities, bake sales and much more. Gwendolyn is partly to blame for the mothers’ heavy workload. But Amy reaches breaking point and decides she’s gonna be a ‘bad mom’ for a change. Fellow moms Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) join in the fun. Though a bit over-the-top it sorta tells us how high-strung moms can be keeping up with how modern-day parents have to be. It also shows how dependent kids are on their mothers.

Gwendolyn and her minions, Stacy (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Vicky (Annie Mumolo) plot to make life difficult for Amy and her kids when they learn that Amy plans to run against Gwendolyn for PTA President.

Bad Moms is genuinely funny because it hits a nerve with parents who can identify with the characters and kids who realise how they tend to take their mother’s for granted. Moms have to push through it all and take the crap and always be there!

If you can see past the raucous scenes and the moderate vulgarity, Bad Moms has a fine message and some touching performances as well. Christina Applegate does a tremendous job of portraying the unlikeable battle axe but manages to portray something deeper with her eyes: you know there’s more to her than just a frustrated mom with nothing better to do. Mila Kunis is fun and likeable and together with Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, they manage to form a far more likeable group than the girls from Ghostbusters.

.