There has been a big push lately to put out movies in which mostly female casts show they can be as funny, raunchy, and irreverent as male led comedies. Sometimes it works (The Heat), and sometimes it doesn’t (think the recent Ghostbusters reboot). One thing is for sure, comedy is all about your preferences and what you find humorous, and often times I feel like these movies think having women act just like men would is funny. I hated Bridesmaids, a movie that played to me like The Hangover for women but without the truly funny script, but it did really well with mainstream America. When commercials started cropping up for Bad Moms, I immediately worried it would follow that same blueprint, and to an extent, it does.

Bad Moms follows main mom Amy (Mila Kunis) as she juggles working part-time for a coffee company where she is the oldest and most responsible employee, while simultaneously trying to be the perfect mom for her son and daughter, and wife for husband Mike (David Walton). The balancing act is not going very well for Amy, and making matters worse is the “Super Mom PTO” led by president Gwendolyn (a pitch perfect Christina Applegate). In Amy’s attempts to be everything for her children, she inadvertently angers Gwendolyn forcing her to have to run a campaign to be the new PTO president so that she can control what happens in her children’s school instead of Gwendolyn. Helping Amy find her way through her messy life are overwhelmed, meek stay-at-home mom Kiki (Kirsten Bell) and single mom with a healthy sexual appetite Carla (Kathryn Hahn).

The ingredients are all there for a crazy, zany comedy any woman should want to see (according to Hollywood): the poor put-upon main character the audience should identify with- check; the character who makes the biggest transformation- check; the I don’t care what anyone thinks I say what is on my mind- check; and the evil nemesis who is actually just misunderstood and learns her lesson with her come-uppance- check. Throw in what Hollywood thinks is the middle-class experience for most women: they look like Mila Kunis, live in a house only upper middle class families could ever afford (but they decorate it so it appears homey and what they think is middle class), and give the main character a part-time job in which she is an executive who essentially runs everything but somehow does this part-time (so she isn’t a bad mom because she works- it is only part-time and it is a financial necessity- no kidding if they are living in that “middle class” home).

I could go on and on about how the framework of this movie illustrates yet again that people who write movies in Hollywood really have no idea about what is a middle-class existence for most working moms. But that is not the point of this review because this movie is actually pretty good- thanks mainly to the performances of Kathryn Hahn and Christina Applegate. Hahn, who I first noticed as she stole every scene she was in in Anchorman, does the same here. She is crass, brutally honest, but also incredibly real and genuine. I could gush all day about her, but I have to also say Christina Applegate shows why she is a terrific-go-to comedic actress who brings an over-the-top nemesis a fun love-to-hate you quality to that type of mom I can testify do exist out there. I would be remiss if I did not also mention J.J. Watt (yes that J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans) who has terrific scenes as Coach Craig, the school soccer coach terrified of making Gwendolyn angry, and say that David Walton playing Amy’s no-good husband Mike is terrific as always playing the same character he typically plays- but when you are good at it, why stop?

Overall, the movie has good intentions. It wants women to know it is okay to not be perfect and to let your kids learn to do more for themselves. I happen to agree with that message, and appreciate the effort of the movie to give different types of moms a fun movie where we can laugh at themselves and allow themselves to let go of that pressure and anxiety. The movie is very predictable- we know Amy will come out on top of the PTO election, her romantic relationships, and her career issues. But if you want to unwind and enjoy some funny performances and an underlying attempt at a sweet message of women rock, then this movie is a good fit for you. Don’t forget if you do watch to sit through the credits in which the stars of the movie share mothering experiences with their real-life mothers. It is quite touching, and you will see there are some strong genes in those families as the actresses and their moms look so much alike.

Bad Moms doesn't feature any "mom haircuts" oddly enough on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 33 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source materials. The colors look very good, as they are bright and bold, and the image is never overly dark or bright. The level of detail is good and the depth is what one would expect from a studio film like this. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 5.7 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The movie features several bass-heavy songs and they really give the subwoofer a workout. These songs also show good stereo separation. There are a few crowd scenes which show off nice surround sound effects, delivering distinct audio in the rear speakers.

The Bad Moms Blu-ray Disc contains only a small selection of extra features. We get five DELETED SCENES which run about 17 minutes. This plays more like batch of alternate scenes, each section is a grab-bag of different lines from scenes which are in the finished film. Oddly enough, this is followed by a 6-minute GAG REEL. "Cast & Mom Interviews" (24 minutes) offers more of the footage showing the actresses and their real-life mothers which was shown during the end credits.