I was going to watch the season finale of “The Middle” anyway. Not sure why I had to go to the theater to do it though.
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“Mom’s Night Out” takes a look at the crazy world of being a mom through the eyes of a frazzled mommy blogger whose one night away from the grind with some girlfriends spins wildly out of control. The movie attempts to both tickle the heartstrings and the funny bone by encapsulating an encouraging message about mommy pressure in a madcap slapstick shell, and somehow manages to mostly succeed on both accounts. Seriously, overall this movie held up surprisingly well for me.
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I say surprisingly, because lets be honest, these faith based films don’t have a good track record of quality entertainment, especially in the comedy department. And the movie was directed by the Erwin Brothers whose only other real credit is the abysmal “October Baby”. But somehow I found myself enjoying this. I think most of it comes down to the fact that I found myself amused often enough that the film’s issues didn’t seem as glaring. Mostly due to a combination of competent acting from the likes of Patricia Heaton, Sean Astin, and even Country singer Trace Adkins and an understanding of how to plot a comedy of errors. The script tossed new kinks in the system just often enough to create new drama through dilema. But the best thing for me was the truth in the softer moments. I have four boys, I know how crazy it gets, how quickly clean turns to a disaster area seemingly in need of quarantine, and even more I know how those things play on our insecurities of just trying to be the best parents we can be. In my opinion the film beautifully offered some encouragement and get this, did it with nary a bit of preachiness or heavy handed sermonizing in sight. But just like I feel far from perfect as a parent, the movie too falls short in many ways.
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First the lead actress, Sarah Drew, who you may know from Grey’s Anatomy, though occasionally funny, was just a bit over the top for me on many occasions, taking me out of the reality of the film. And though I found much of the humor to work, the parts that didn’t fell especially flat, making it difficult for the movie to regain steam. But the worst thing is that the editing just isn’t tight enough. Making the pacing of the movie often feel uneven and bringing attention to the fact that we never quite get into the flow of the story.
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At the end of the day, “Mom’s Night Out” is an amusing ride through the trials of being a parent. Even if the journey has some starts and stops, and can be a bit too silly for it’s own good at times, the occasional good laugh, and encouraging message about the difficulty of parenting encouraged me to forgive its faults enough to land it at a B-
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