This is one of those movies that I watch and I can already hear the reviews before I even look at them. Then I spend an hour reading people trashing the film for all the reasons that make you wonder why on earth these people bothered to watch it in the first place. It doesn't disguise itself. You don't look at this film and think "Oh what a sweet action film." It only takes 30 seconds of reading to discover this is an "Affirm" film and Christian based and it is meant to be fun and light and fluffy with squeaky clean morales. And so what? In fact, bravo to them!! We could use a little more of this in today's film barrage. Mom's Night Out is not brilliant and I will definitely say that in many ways it tries too hard but it still was entertaining, made me smile and was fun and frenetic in the way that it should be. The concept for the movie is the classic "one night adventure where everything goes wrong." The problem is that it does try too hard to not push any buttons at all. I think it just needed a more experienced writer to try and cover the fact that it is trying to be completely clean. However, it is successful at that and still a lot of fun and I wouldn't be afraid to watch this with children of any age or any family member. It was simple FUN!
Sarah Drew of Grey's Anatomy Fame plays our lead Mom. She definitely overplays her exhaustion as a Mom to two or three kids...I forget which. By the time she gets her night out you're almost sick of her complaining. However, when the fun finally starts she does alright. She is very sweet and innocent looking and she actually wins you over with her personality. She still doesn't carry the film as well as you would hope but she does alright. Sean Astin is her doting but busy husband who works on the road. He is definitely a secondary character and you have to wonder why he doesn't spend more time at home but him and Drew have good chemistry and he is good for the role necessary. Patricia Heaton is a highlight of the cast as the Pastor's Wife along for the crazy night out. Heaton definitely shows some comic experience amongst this cast and she gets some truly great scenes. Andrea White is decent as Drew's best friend though I felt like their chemistry wasn't quite as good as it should have been and she doesn't really get any opportunity to really prove herself amongst the cast. Abbie Cobb was actually very good as one of the other Mom's who inadvertently ends up on their wild night out. She probably gets one of the more in depth characters and it works in her favour. My favourite character and performance was that by Trace Adkins as biker Bones. He is so rough and rugged and subtly hilarious and even dispels the great wisdom at the end. Adkins is terrific!! David Hunt, Harry Shum Jr., Robert Amaya and Kevin Downes round out the supporting cast and do quite well at it.
This such a big cast that inevitably you can find your favourite character and latch onto them. I have such a great amount of respect for The Erwin Brothers who direct this film because they go out of their way to try to bring faith and morale to films and this was fun!! People need to let go and have a little fun. Yes its a Christian film and so what!! Its not a perfect movie, it wasn't an instant classic but I really enjoyed it, had a good time, appreciated it for what it was, and I would absolutely watch it again. So if you're using this review to decide whether to see it then just understand what you're about to watch. If you have ridiculous expectations for a movie that makes itself very clear what kind of movie it is then of course you won't like it. Me...I had a great time. 7.5/10
Sarah Drew of Grey's Anatomy Fame plays our lead Mom. She definitely overplays her exhaustion as a Mom to two or three kids...I forget which. By the time she gets her night out you're almost sick of her complaining. However, when the fun finally starts she does alright. She is very sweet and innocent looking and she actually wins you over with her personality. She still doesn't carry the film as well as you would hope but she does alright. Sean Astin is her doting but busy husband who works on the road. He is definitely a secondary character and you have to wonder why he doesn't spend more time at home but him and Drew have good chemistry and he is good for the role necessary. Patricia Heaton is a highlight of the cast as the Pastor's Wife along for the crazy night out. Heaton definitely shows some comic experience amongst this cast and she gets some truly great scenes. Andrea White is decent as Drew's best friend though I felt like their chemistry wasn't quite as good as it should have been and she doesn't really get any opportunity to really prove herself amongst the cast. Abbie Cobb was actually very good as one of the other Mom's who inadvertently ends up on their wild night out. She probably gets one of the more in depth characters and it works in her favour. My favourite character and performance was that by Trace Adkins as biker Bones. He is so rough and rugged and subtly hilarious and even dispels the great wisdom at the end. Adkins is terrific!! David Hunt, Harry Shum Jr., Robert Amaya and Kevin Downes round out the supporting cast and do quite well at it.
This such a big cast that inevitably you can find your favourite character and latch onto them. I have such a great amount of respect for The Erwin Brothers who direct this film because they go out of their way to try to bring faith and morale to films and this was fun!! People need to let go and have a little fun. Yes its a Christian film and so what!! Its not a perfect movie, it wasn't an instant classic but I really enjoyed it, had a good time, appreciated it for what it was, and I would absolutely watch it again. So if you're using this review to decide whether to see it then just understand what you're about to watch. If you have ridiculous expectations for a movie that makes itself very clear what kind of movie it is then of course you won't like it. Me...I had a great time. 7.5/10