A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS – Review

Okay, have you added your jack-o-latern to the compost heap and packed away all the cardboard witches, black cats, and ghosts? Good, cause it’s time to grab the decoration box for the next big holiday (sorry Thanksgiving, aside from the fold-out table top turkey, you’re mainly a big lavish meal followed by hours of football). December will be here before you know it, and this new release tries to add some laughs along with the wreaths. Plus it’s that rare two-for-one flick in that it’s a seasonal celebration and a sequel, just as with THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY from four years ago. And while the holiday is one for families to get together, this new movie is really aimed at the older revelers. It’s rated “R” for raw and rowdy, with jokes and gags much raunchier than the Parkers (from the classic A CHRISTMAS STORY) or the Griswolds would serve up with the egg nog (these folks would whip it up with a strong kick). Just a year ago this past July, film goers were stunned at the “un-PC” hi-jinks of a trio of matriarchs known as the BAD MOMS. Now they’re back to wreck havoc under the fancy tree in A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS. And their own wild and wacky mothers are joining in the naughty nonsense.

So it’s over a year later, but Amy (Mila Kunis) is still in a funk as she looks over the debris of her Christmas Eve decorations. As we flash back to several days prior, we find her in a much better mood. Her two kids are doing well and her romance with hunky widowed dad Jessie (Jay Hernandez) is really going strong. However holiday prep is stressing her out, especially since her folks will soon arrive. Things are always hectic at Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Kent’s house with their three (or is it four) rambunctious kids. Then things get truly chaotic with the unexpected early arrival of her widowed mother Sandy (Cheryl Hines) who takes clingy to a whole new level (she even has her hair styled and colored to match her daughter). Meanwhile Carla (Kathryn Hahn) is putting in long, tiring hours at the spa tending to the ..ahem…grooming needs of the local ladies. Going home, she’s surprised to see a big semi-truck pull up to the front lawn. The passenger door opens and out hops her free-spirited mother Isis (Susan Sarandon), decked out in a cowboy hat, tight sequined slacks, and sans bra. As she talks and tokes, Carla wonders when mom will hit her up for a loan.

Meanwhile back at Amy’s place, her mother Ruth (Christine Baranski) arrives with the force of a fierce blizzard, with her hubby Hank (Peter Gallagher) in tow, wrestling with the massive luggage. Ruth tosses expensive gifts at the kids while sneering at Amy’s attempts at festive decorations. Luckily Amy is able to blow off some steam with Carla and Kiki down at the mall the next day. The woman decide that they will not let their moms ruin the holiday. In the days before the 25th, Kiki drags Sandy to a family therapist Dr. Karl (Wanda Sykes) in order to set up “boundaries”. Carla has a most delightful spa client, an exotic dancer (okay, male stripper) named Ty (Justin Hartley) who needs a slight “touch up” before competing in a “sexy Santa” contest. Could he be her “mistletoe match”? Amy’s not having so much fun as Ruth brings in her own workers to redo Amy’s house before she hosts a fancy event on the 24th (live birds are part of the front lawn display). Is there any way the two can reach a compromise before Christmas becomes a family destroying battle of wills?

Just as with the original outing, the film’s strength is the easy-going chemistry and expert comic teaming of the star trio, but here we get to double the talent. Having achieved her independence, Kunis as Amy exudes more confidence, but her history with mom starts to slowly chip away at her. While more of the straight man (or woman) last year, Kunis shows more of her comic and dramatic skills while indulging in inspired bits of slapstick. Like Amy, Bell’s Kiki is a much stronger role, with little of timidity of her introduction. This time, her mom inspires hilarious expressions of frustration and exasperation from her (we almost expect to see an animated thought balloon with “?!!” to pop up from her noggin). There’s even a playful, sexy side to Kiki as she is more at ease with her hubby. Speaking of the “s-word”, Hahn as Carla is still the neighborhood bad girl bombshell, emerging from her spa smock and transforming into a rock vixen, just as Diana Prince changes to our fave Amazon. Hahn still delivers her lurid lines of dialogue with delight, but we get a bit of her vulnerable side as she melts for her new beau. As for the grandmas’, Hines is a scene stealer with her terrific rapport with Bell and her happy, too-sweet passive aggressive attitude, not to mention her too long hugs which give her a chance to inhale Bell’s hair (that look of ecstasy is priceless). Sarandon reprises her mature “man-eater”, this time mixed with the “wild child” who’s never truly grown up, thinking the party will never end. Baranski may be one of the best cinema snobs since Margaret Dumont. When she enters Amy’s home her nose twitches as if she’s just walked into a neglected outhouse. Her suburb diction propel all of her dismissive comments to maximum destructive effect. Her Ruth has no clue to her cruelty. Sykes absolutely kills as the “no B.S.” counselor. As for the guys, Gallagher is effective as the brow-beaten pop who knows just the right advice to give to his kid. And Hartley not only is eye candy, but proves to have some sharp comedy chops.

Writer/directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore return also. And they keep the film rolling at pretty much the same pace, though they aren’t concerned with Amy’s job, nor the kids’ schools (we do a cameo from a former foe from there). They indulge once more in too many montages with wacky slow motion (and slooooow sound) and they go for too many easy laughs in the script (really, a lil’ girl dropping the “F-bomb” nearly three times straight, c’mon). Plus the plot doesn’t veer past the usual Christmas movie clichés. Understanding will be shared along with warm, teary hugs, of course. Still, the film’s worth seeing just for the supreme comedic talents and timing of these, not three, six gifted actresses. They’re the delightful gift wrapped inside A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS.

3.5 Out of 5