Moms' Night Out
3/4
Starring: Sarah Drew, Patricia Heaton, Andrea Logan White, Abbie Cobb, Sean Astin, Trace Adkins, David Hunt, Alex Kendrick, Kevin Downes
Rated PG for Mild Thematic Elements and Some Action
When I learned that "Moms' Night Out" was a Christian film, I dreaded going to see this movie. Thoughts of something wretched like "God's Not Dead" flooded my mind. But, as a film critic, I had to see it (if nothing else, it would help fill up my Bottom 10 list). To my surprise, not only was "Moms' Night Out" eons better than the previously mentioned disaster, it's actually a good movie. It's fun, fast-paced, and frequently very funny.
Allyson (Drew) is a young mom of three children. She's a blogger about family life (although no one reads it) and raising her wild children is driving her to the point of a breakdown (it doesn't help that she's a clean freak and a worry wart). Noticing that her two friends, Izzy (White) and Sondra (Heaton) are just as stressed out, so she suggests that they take a night out together while the dads look after the kids. Needless to say, things do not go as planned, and all hell breaks loose as they run into problems such as a missing baby and a tattoo artist who goes by the ominous name of Bones (Adkins). The dads' night isn't any better, either.
In a nutshell, "Moms' Night Out" is a screwball comedy (a genre I have a fondness for). And unlike many movies these days, it's entirely family friendly, although I'm not sure that kids will be able to relate to what's going on. The jokes are frequent and most of them land because they poke fun at human foibles rather than trying to take the words "crude" and "disgusting" to the next level. Many films, such as "Shrek" and "The Princess Bride," have proved that you don't need to be dark or gross to earn a laugh. "Moms' Night Out" does too, and it's all the better for it.
"Moms' Night Out" was produced by Affirm Films and Provident Films, which are the faith-based arms of Sony. But you could have fooled me. "Moms' Night Out" works as a Christian film because it doesn't fall into the traps that "God's Not Dead," which is an example of Filmmaking Ineptitude 101 (even many Christians hated it, as is evidenced by the reviews on iMDb), did. The characters are shown with their warts and all, it's not political, and it doesn't preach. It also helps that the acting (which includes the likes of Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton and "Glee's" Harry Shum, Jr.) is strong across the board. The biggest reason is that it shows its message, rather than spouts it incessantly (no one, not even the pastor, played by Alex Kendrick, recites anything from the Bible). It's also willing to have fun and let its hair down. No one in this movie is perfect, but they're all likable, and that's the film's message: you may be flawed and make mistakes, but you're still A-OK with the man upstairs.
Aside from all that, the film is just a good film, period. The jokes are clever and well-timed, and it features a chase scene that is well-staged and edited. It's actually exciting and, considering the context and what happens in it, is a lot of fun.
This is not a perfect film; there are two scenes that get a little too close to preaching for comfort and the ending scenes aren't perfectly set up well, but so what? Is the film entertaining enough to warrant a trip to the theater? Absolutely (especially if you're a mom).
Starring: Sarah Drew, Patricia Heaton, Andrea Logan White, Abbie Cobb, Sean Astin, Trace Adkins, David Hunt, Alex Kendrick, Kevin Downes
Rated PG for Mild Thematic Elements and Some Action
When I learned that "Moms' Night Out" was a Christian film, I dreaded going to see this movie. Thoughts of something wretched like "God's Not Dead" flooded my mind. But, as a film critic, I had to see it (if nothing else, it would help fill up my Bottom 10 list). To my surprise, not only was "Moms' Night Out" eons better than the previously mentioned disaster, it's actually a good movie. It's fun, fast-paced, and frequently very funny.
Allyson (Drew) is a young mom of three children. She's a blogger about family life (although no one reads it) and raising her wild children is driving her to the point of a breakdown (it doesn't help that she's a clean freak and a worry wart). Noticing that her two friends, Izzy (White) and Sondra (Heaton) are just as stressed out, so she suggests that they take a night out together while the dads look after the kids. Needless to say, things do not go as planned, and all hell breaks loose as they run into problems such as a missing baby and a tattoo artist who goes by the ominous name of Bones (Adkins). The dads' night isn't any better, either.
In a nutshell, "Moms' Night Out" is a screwball comedy (a genre I have a fondness for). And unlike many movies these days, it's entirely family friendly, although I'm not sure that kids will be able to relate to what's going on. The jokes are frequent and most of them land because they poke fun at human foibles rather than trying to take the words "crude" and "disgusting" to the next level. Many films, such as "Shrek" and "The Princess Bride," have proved that you don't need to be dark or gross to earn a laugh. "Moms' Night Out" does too, and it's all the better for it.
"Moms' Night Out" was produced by Affirm Films and Provident Films, which are the faith-based arms of Sony. But you could have fooled me. "Moms' Night Out" works as a Christian film because it doesn't fall into the traps that "God's Not Dead," which is an example of Filmmaking Ineptitude 101 (even many Christians hated it, as is evidenced by the reviews on iMDb), did. The characters are shown with their warts and all, it's not political, and it doesn't preach. It also helps that the acting (which includes the likes of Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton and "Glee's" Harry Shum, Jr.) is strong across the board. The biggest reason is that it shows its message, rather than spouts it incessantly (no one, not even the pastor, played by Alex Kendrick, recites anything from the Bible). It's also willing to have fun and let its hair down. No one in this movie is perfect, but they're all likable, and that's the film's message: you may be flawed and make mistakes, but you're still A-OK with the man upstairs.
Aside from all that, the film is just a good film, period. The jokes are clever and well-timed, and it features a chase scene that is well-staged and edited. It's actually exciting and, considering the context and what happens in it, is a lot of fun.
This is not a perfect film; there are two scenes that get a little too close to preaching for comfort and the ending scenes aren't perfectly set up well, but so what? Is the film entertaining enough to warrant a trip to the theater? Absolutely (especially if you're a mom).
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