Having found success after writing the Hangover trilogy, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore set out to show that women can act just as stupidly as men with Bad Moms. Much to their own and their character’s detriment, they succeed all too well. While the film is funny at times, the outlandish nature of the various women at its core and the circumstances they find themselves in prove to be too ridiculous to be believed, at least within the suburban setting that serves as their middle-class prison.

They are the unsung hero of every family – the mom, the one who sacrifices her own interests to make her children happy, steps back to allow her husband to think that he’s the one who keeps things moving along, and has been taken for granted for so long that anything resembling a “Thank You” is likely to send her into shock. Amy (Mila Kunis) knows about this all too well, as she runs hither and yon shuttling her two kids back and forth from one activity to the next, works part time at a company that doesn’t appreciate her and is married to a selfish dullard (David Walton) who takes her for granted. Like many of us, in a given day she manages to get everything done, none of it well.

However, when she finds out that her husband is having an internet affair, well, that’s the straw that breaks Amy’s back. Retiring to a bar to tie one on, she finds out she’s not alone. Kiki (Kristen Bell) is saddled with four young ones and a husband who keeps her on a short leash and single mom Carla (Kathryn Hahn, trying way too hard) is clueless as to what to do with her teenage son while letting every man in earshot know how lonely she is and open to solving that problem with anyone that’s available.

Before you know it, this trio is painting the town, intent on carving a bit of time out for themselves and perhaps taking that snooty Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate), the bully who runs the PTA, down a notch or two.

While a film praising the millions of overlooked mothers in our midst is long overdue, I wish one a little smarter than this had been made. There are so many nonsensical elements to this movie that I scarcely know where to begin, but Applegate’s character stands out most of all. Gwendolyn wields so much power in the school district where Amy’s children go that she’s able to get one of them benched on the soccer team and has the ability to single-handedly get teachers fired.

Granted, a degree of exaggeration is expected in comedies of this sort, and with that in mind, I can let the blowout party that Amy throws late in the film pass, primarily because it contains more than a few funny moments. It’s equally effective when it skewers millennials for being self-absorbed and entitled, yet the Mean Girls vibe that develops between the Amy and Gwendolyn cliques seems forced. Moms ends up being the kind of comedy where you realize early on that the gags that don’t stick are going to far outweigh those that do.

And that’s a shame, as the overall silliness of the film ends up obscuring its message. As Amy points out, it is impossible to be a mom today and the expectations placed upon mothers are unrealistic. I couldn’t agree more, and Moms’ message is a valid one. I just wish I didn’t want to kill this particular messenger as I heard it.

Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected].

For a review of Star Trek Beyond, go to the Cinemascoping blog at http://illinoistimes.com.