Bad Moms gets one thing right: moms get saddled with making the holidays perfect. The cooking, the cleaning, the gift buying and gift wrapping. Christmas, or whatever you celebrate, wouldn’t happen without the women in your life pulling it together. And making the holidays wonderful for everyone else makes it less wonderful for yourself.
They’re called boundaries, people, and they’ll go a long way in making not only the holidays more tolerable, but your relationship with your mother more healthy. Boundaries are a gift you give yourself. For your own sanity, I suggest they be plentiful underneath your tree this year.
Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell), and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) are back and they’re “taking back Christmas.” Apparently what we grown women have secretly been missing from the holiday season: dry-humping Santa and getting drunk at the mall. Um, nope. Yet 
again, this movie misses its mark with me. I think it’s pandering and condescending and incredibly obvious that was written and directed by MEN. But I’m not a Bad Mom, I’m a Good Aunt. And the role of Good Aunt is really easy: you buy lots of presents, you let them get away with everything three notches above murder, and you give them 100% of your time and attention once or twice a month. Being a mom, bad or not, is infinitely harder because parenting is about the details. So if carving out 104 minutes to sneak away to one of those fancy movie theatres that serve wine is all you can muster for yourself this holiday season, have at it.
The Bad Moms are confronted not just with the Mount-Everest-sized expectations of a season hallmarked by extravagance and perfectionism, but by the presence of their mothers, who are of course overbearing shrews (Cheryl Hines, Susan Sarandon, and Christine Baranksi). I don’t really relate to that because a) my mother dotes on her grandkids but is actually respectful of people’s space – my sisters will literally fight over whose house she’ll be waking up in come Christmas morning, and b) I am, again, a Good Aunt, and not a Bad Mom, which means my mother wouldn’t even notice me over the holidays unless I deliberately walk between her and one of her grandkids. Good Aunts are persona non grata during the holidays; you’ll notice the film never once cuts to a Good Aunt who is relaxing on her all-white couch, sipping spiked hot chocolate, surrounded by very fragile and carefully curated gold ornaments. Holiday movies will have you believe that children are the only reason for the season. And that harried single mothers who, as recently as 6 days ago, have “taken back Christmas” must still provide a home that looks as though Pinterest has tastefully regurgitated Christmas all over it for her darling kiddos.
The magic of Christmas is a hard thing to define and impossible to bottle. So whatever you do to make the holidays special, thank you. And whatever you do to cut corners, good for you. And if you’re desperate enough to make this movie be part of your celebrations, that can be our little secret.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Not for me, I’m a bad grandma 🙂
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I almost went to see this last weekend, but teen son’s eye roll made me change my mind. I’d never hear the end of it. Then again, when I saw the reviews for it, I decided my money was probably better spent elsewhere. Looks like I was right.
I imagine you are not only a Good Aunt but a Super Cool Aunt too!
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I try!
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Ha! This review cracked me up. If you need me, I’ll be sipping my spiked hot chocolate.
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Amen!
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Yeah… this looks like a big bucketful if smashed tree baubles.
Also, I’m the gift wrapper in my house. I reckon I add a wee bit to the Christmas magic there.
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Good for you!
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Ha! But aye, I rely on my wife to make the whole thing truly special (I’m not the type to be let near the kitchen!)
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You crack me up too Jay. I might see while sipping spiked something on my couch during a blizzard.
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I never bothered with the first one, as it just seemed ridiculous. And I’ll be skipping this one as well. As a good aunt also, I think you have an idea. We should totally write a decent Christmas movie from the perspective of the aunts. The ideas are percolating…
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I knew it wasn’t just me!
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Liked the first one, not even going to bother with this one. 😀
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Looks like a great cast. But a mom movie written by men?
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It’s a cast that deserves better.
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I liked the first Bad Moms well enough, so I’ll probably see this at some point. Thanks for letting me know there’s no need to rush.
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I never bothered with these films because they just looked like a bunch of stereotypes. This one doesn’t look any better than the first for me.
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It is, it’s just like a mashup of all the insipid mom gifs on Facebook!
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You wonder what Susan Sarandan is doing int his flick. I might see it…one day…on the woman’s network right after Girfriends of Christmas past (blecchhhh)
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I really can’t believe they made a sequel – Just say no lol
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And they made it right quick too! Now I’m afraid the other holidays are not safe.
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I watched “Bad Moms”, but can’t say it was my cup of tea. I might give a chance though to this one as well, only because of the Christmas related story. I have a sort of tradition, each year, from December 1st till end of the year to watch a Christmas movie daily ( I know, I’m a Christmas freak 😛 ), and I need some new “Christmas material” :). Maybe you can share some of your favorite Christmas movies . Thanks!
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Wow, that’s quite a commitment! You probably see a lot of stinkers that way but at least it’ll leave you in the holiday spirit.
You can see a lot of my faves (and lots of not so faves) by clicking on the holiday tag of this post!
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