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Ellie Harpole
AGCJ 314
Major Assignment 1
September 24, 2016
Bad Moms: A Cheesy Comedy and a Call to Sincerity
A dub step house party, a night rampage through a supermarket, the sabotage of a high

school girl and . . . moms? This mix of raunchy, rebellious and surprisingly real melds frat house
flare with the genuine struggles of adult life in the film Bad Moms.
The 2016 comedy Bad Moms was written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
The pair know a thing or two about adult comedies; they wrote the first The Hangover and 21
& Over. Bad Moms fits the duos style of film writing and direction with hilarious, crude
humor and subtle grains of truth.
Mila Kunis stars as Amy, a woman trying to raise a family without much help from her
dolt of a husband (David Walton). She is constantly pulled a hundred directions and tries
tirelessly to manage a part-time job and the busy lives of her two children (Oona Laurence and
Emjay Anthony). Work, soccer practice, school projects, grocery shopping and PTA have Amy
floundering to keep up. She is the comedic portrayal of every overly involved mother who is
desperately trying to juggle it all. Amy strikes up an unlikely friendship with Kiki and Carla, two
moms who also struggle to keep it together. The three absolve themselves from being perfect
parents and decide to simply be bad moms.
Kiki (Kristen Bell) is an acquiescent and insecure stay-at-home mom who submits to her
insensitive husband and takes care of everything at the house. Carla (Kathryn Hahn) is overtly
promiscuous, crude and apathetic to the socially acceptable behavioral norms of a mother. She is
a single mom to her only son who is a sweet, quiet and cloddish baseball player who is isolated
because of Carlas shameless behavior.

Ellie Harpole
AGCJ 314
Major Assignment 1
September 24, 2016

The trio is constantly battered by life and by Gwendolyn (Cristina Applegate), who is the
PTA president and head of the judgmental mom squad who rules the school. Applegates
character is the perfect coupling of the inner high school mean girl and well-off snob mom that
every PTA has.
The film follows the three women on their rampage of freedom and culminates with a
more tempered but still emphasized relinquishing of control, both in life and with the children.
Overall, the comedy is a cheesy but accurate portrayal of the life of a mom. The comedic
jabs at being oversensitive about gluten, soy and lactose at the school bake sale and the women
playing the popular app Heads Up and drinking cheap wine are funny and relatable digs at the
way real women live.
The movie does try to capture more sincere moments too, like the painful dueling
perspectives that are equally reasonable but conflicting between a mom and daughter. The
growing pains when kids have to take on their own responsibility are evident in the film as well.
There is also redemption of some relationships at the end, which brings resolution to the subplots
in the film. While they may not flow well with the theatrical effects and exaggerated comedic
elements, the more profound concepts do come across.
The movie certainly does not boast great script writing or cinematography. But Bad
Moms does do a good job of executing the elements typical of movie in the comedy genre.
The film humorously exaggerates situations through video and sound effects. The driving
scenes are dripping with theatrics as the speed of the car is juxtaposed with slow motion
videography, smoke flying and magnified car sounds.

Ellie Harpole
AGCJ 314
Major Assignment 1
September 24, 2016

The most identifying scene in the movie, the grocery store rampage, is chock-full of
intentional dramatic extras. The lights flicker to dub step music and the footage plays in slow
motion and fast-forward to emphasize the chaos in the scene.
These video additions were designed with careful consideration from the directors.
Lucas told The New York Times that each scene was intentionally crafted to promote the
story. We spent a lot of time thinking about where we wanted the girls to have their first
explosive scene, Lucas explained, and I think we landed on this idea of the supermarket
because it felt emblematic of the mundanity of being a mom.
The scenes are also enhanced lyrically. In the grocery scene the Milky Way lyric from
Icona Pops I Love it plays as Carla fountains milk all over herself. Similarly, DNCEs Cake
by the Ocean is the track playing in the background of the bake sale scene. Lucas credits the
success of these elements to his editing team. The editors did such a good job of cutting the
scenes to feel like a music video, Lucas said, there is a lot of timing with the music and
making sure everything is landing on the beat.
In the wake of all the Bad moviesBad Teacher, Bad Girls, Bad Words, Bad
Grandpa, Bad SantaBad Moms is a decently successful, though borderline cheesy,
mindless comedy with mild moments of sincerity.