Although it has a good message, “Moms’ Night Out,” offers few laughs and doesn’t try to appeal outside of its demographic: moms with kids. Hello Moviegoers! A comedy ripe with opportunities that fails to actually land the majority of its jokes. “Moms’ Night Out” is the Christian revival in Hollywood stepping into comedy. Its great message for Moms everywhere is applauded, but I managed only a slight chuckle in response to this average script with very poor direction.
Moms’ Night Out ( 1 ½ sweet potatoes out of four) Stars: Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, Trace Adkins, David Hunt, Logan White, Harry Shum Jr., and Abbie Cobb; Director: Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin; Genre: Comedy; Rated: PG; Running Time: 98 minutes; Opens: Friday, May 9th, 2014.
Allyson (Sarah Drew) is a mommy blogger with three followers, obsessive compulsive cleaning tendencies, prone to “moments” of insanity, and extremely stressed by her three small children. Her husband, Sean (Sean Astin), works as an architect and is constantly on the go evidenced when her oldest daughter draws her a family picture and Sean is absent and airplane has been drawn in his place. After being publicly embarrassed and overworked by her kids at church on mother’s day, Allyson decides it’s time for a girl’s night out. She gathers up her friends, who are also parents, Sondra (Patricia Heaton) and Izzy (Logan White), leaves the kids with the husbands, and the head for the fanciest restaurant in town.
The plans quickly turn sour when the reservation is lost over a confusion between the definition of ‘this’ Saturday and ‘next’ Saturday, something I also often find baffling and confusing. They also run into Allyson’s sister-in-law’s baby daddy (Harry Shum Jr.) who is supposed to be baby-sitting, but has someone managed to misplace his child. Once the mother, Bridget (Abbie Cobb), finds out her baby is lost it becomes a search for the baby which leads them to tattoo parlors, car chases, and eventually jail.
While the script definitely falters in some areas and misses joke opportunities, “Moms’ Night Out” would be a lot funnier with better direction. More often than not, it felt as though they actors were being contained instead of letting the humor run free. Drew’s performance on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy proves that she is not only capable of throwing fit, but can be completely hilarious while doing it. I haven’t watched such a poorly directed film in quite a while and it showed in every scene.
Jon & Andrew Erwin should probably stick to drama in the future because they managed to take the funny and the interest out of a car chase and a woman getting accidentally tazed. The message of the film should be taken to heart, and I’ll definitely be calling my Mom on Mother’s Day and thanking her for all she’s done for me. I give “Moms’ Night Out” 1 ½ sweet potatoes out of four.
This is A. P. Richardson for Moviegoers View and I’ll see you after the movies at moviegoersview.com.
Moviegoers View – Entertainment. Culture. Talk.