“Bad Moms Christmas” Movie Review: Baranski or Bust

Christine Baranski sails into the Bad Moms franchise nearly racheting away the movie from some formidable co-stars in the Bad Moms cast such as Mila Kunis and Susan Sarandon. The original Bad Moms comedy impressed me, since I thought it a canny depiction of girl on girl crime. The moms all try to one up each other, and Kathryn Hahn’s bohemian rock chick Carla stole every scene she was in. Bad Moms Christmas focuses closer on mother-daughter relationships, and I felt Kunis, Sarandon and Hahn were all dwarfed by Baranskis portrayal of Amy’s (Mila Kunis) perfectionist mother.

The Run Down

Grandma (Baranski) disrupts Amy’s (Mila Kunis) desire for a “chill Christmas.” She buys the kids things Amy can’t afford (X-Boxes for everybody!) and plans a bunch of fussy activities. Amy can barely make it out of sweat pants and just wants to stuff her face in Chinese delivery. Carla (Kathryn Hahn) and Kiki (Kristen Bell) join the fray with their own enigmatic mothers in the fold.

The Critique

The original Bad Moms had excellent writing, and I clearly remember laughing out loud several times. Bad Moms Christmas relies a little too heavily on musical montages of the moms getting way too drunk at inappropriate moments. The megawatt star cast carries the material—some stars like Baranski and Sarandon are so compelling even in a bad movie they are still pretty good.

But I did think the new Bad Moms was pretty good. The only other critique I’ll chip in is that “throwing in some alcohol” took the place of clever screenwriting. As a person with a complicated relationship to alcohol, I think this sort of writing can be irresponsible. When backed into a difficult situation, these moms just get shit faced every time but without any consequences. We never see the scene where Carla needs a liver transplant or Amy’s kids get taken away by Child Protection Service.

The Verdict

I’m not saying go see it in a movie theater, but if it were on cable late night after Bad Santa I would probably watch it again.

Can I Take Take the Kids?

Pretty rude humor and language. Basically, it is my kind of movie, but I don’t know if you want your kids saying some of the things they’ll hear in Bad Moms Christmas.