Bad Moms is the kind of comedy film that is made far too often, and despite their radical popularity and mainstream appeal, they are usually not particularly good cinema. A domestic or suburban comedy that sees a subversion of archetypal gender or societal roles where expectations are subverted in favor of bawdy and sometimes excessively vulgar humor. I am far from being conservative in regards to a film being a tad vulgar and reliant on lowbrow humor because they can be entertaining, and possibly very funny – but they are certainly not all that good, and prove to be deeply flawed much of the time. Bad Moms is a film that has a very thin premise, and it often struggles to overcome its flaws. However, it is also a well-intentioned film that is sincerely dedicated to its storyline, and its commitment is admirable, and the result is a film that is far better than one would expect it to be.

Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) is a typical working mother, balancing her busy career with the raising of her two children (Emjay Anthony and Oona Lawrence) as well as having to deal with her juvenile and inconsiderate husband (David Walton), as well as being seen as a pariah of sorts by the gang of stay-at-home mothers who take their responsibilities in the Parent-Teacher Association far too seriously. However, after a traumatic experience, Amy is forced to reconsider her life, and with the help of foul-mouthed slacker mom Carla (Kathryn Hahn) and frazzled stay-at-home mother of four Kiki (Kristen Bell), she decides to become a “bad mom” (the recurring phrasing of this is a bit troubling, because it contradicts the central message of the film – but then again, no one wants to see a film called “Lenient Moms” or “Not Too Serious Moms”). They begin to question what constitutes modern motherhood, and subvert all expectations, leaving a path of destruction in their wake – but as this is an uplifting, non-serious comedy, it is all for the greater good and there are very few realistic consequences to their actions.

As I said before, Bad Moms has a very weak premise, and it stretches out its concept over a slightly-inflated running time, and the result is a film that is not entirely successful in knowing what it wants to say, nor does it know exactly how it wants to say it. It is obvious that it is part of this new wave of edgy comedies that take on entrenched beliefs and construct protagonists that go against every expectation – yet, there are so many films about motherhood that comment on the difficult task of being a mother, and many other films have covered this topic in far greater detail and to much better acclaim – and it seems like Bad Moms started out as a germ of an idea, but didn’t develop far enough to actually be particularly notable or remarkable. In all honesty, Bad Moms is derivative and contrived, and I could not find anything in this film I could not find elsewhere. In terms of premise, it is shockingly weak, and if it wasn’t for some other redeeming factors, it would hardly be worth one’s time to even consider watching it. Understand, however, that I am talking about the story rather than the execution – because it is in the way this story was made that set Bad Moms as something that is a lot better than it should have been, without actually being particularly great either.

The first redeeming factor is quite simply that Bad Moms knows exactly where it stands, and does not attempt to ascend any higher than it knows it can. It is well-aware of its weak premise, and instead of ignoring the glaring faults, it simply embraces them and manages to be entertaining simply because it does not take itself too seriously. There are a few moments of misguided emotional manipulation, which do not work at all (saccharine sentimentality just does not work if your story is just not that strong), and the strengths of Bad Moms is not found in its commentary on motherhood – several other films make far more poignant statements on the challenges of being a mother – but in its loose, enthusiastic and fun nature, where the cast is able to satirize conventional cliches to create caricatures of archetypal characters that may not be realistic, but they are entertaining and work in creating a film that is subversive to all expectations – it is a film that attempts to corrupt accepted societal structures to simply lampoon what is supposedly normal. Basically, Bad Moms isn’t an accurate or profound reflection on motherhood, but it is certainly an entertaining representation of it, and it is in this approach to quite simply being a fun film that allows Bad Moms to be successful, which distracts from the very weak storyline that really doesn’t have anything meaningful to say most of the time.

Thankfully, Bad Moms features a cast that is fully dedicated to the absurd but entertaining nature of this film, and mostly everyone excels. Mila Kunis leads the film well, playing a character that is not remarkable or entirely special but does prove to be charming and endearing to compensate for her troublingly dull development. While this film does take a risk in having Kunis play the mother to two near-teenagers (and attempting to justify this through comically inserting an early-marriage background to the character several times throughout), she was actually surprisingly good in playing a working mother. Kunis is an actress with remarkable potential which she has shown from time to time but mostly labors in these kinds of mainstream comedies that do allow her to be better than the film but also do not allow her to explore the same talents she portrayed in emotionally-complex films such as Black Swan and Blood Ties. She is good here, but then again, the role didn’t require anything particularly special from her either, so it really isn’t worth raving about when nearly any actress could have played this role. Kunis just brought her natural charm to the character, and the performance was solid, to say the least. Kristen Bell is a reliable actress and has proved herself to be endlessly charming in nearly any role. For the most part, she is the quirky friend who just serves to be reactionary to the events of the films, but she does have her own arc that may be obvious but is still very satisfying. Kathryn Hahn continues to be one of the most underrated actresses working today and proves herself to be a true scene-stealer, with her vulgar Carla being a highlight of the film as a whole. It seems like every comedy of this ilk needs a character like Carla, a vulgar and unfiltered hedonist who simply exists to make the main character seem a little more normal. This is an archetypal character that can often work wonderfully (just look at the career-defining turns of Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover and Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip), usually because they possess some concealed gravitas that allows them to unexpectedly develop and prove to be the emotional core of the film. Hahn is really a tremendous actress, and while this is not an entirely original character, she works wonders with it and absolutely steals this film.

Being a film-lover requires an appreciation of both high-culture and low-culture, and the ability to see merit in any film is one that is difficult to retain, particularly when there are so many films that are just exceedingly mediocre and derivative, looking to be a mainstream hit and score popularity through its outrageous and relatable premise. For every flaw one can find in Bad Moms, I wouldn’t suggest that it is mediocre, because it is well-intentioned, and most importantly, it is outlandishly funny. It has dedicated performances from a great cast, as well as being aware of its own derivative nature. The story may not be particularly strong, but it compensates for this by simply being a really fun and entertaining film. It may try and pander to the mainstream audience that adores these outrageous suburban comedies, but it is inoffensive and infectious, and there are worse ways to pass the time.