It would seem like the Christian community lacks materials for diverse genres in the arts, especially in the film industry, with believers having to look for comedy movies and oftentimes than not, getting their senses assaulted with obscene scenes and language.
The Erwin brothers, directors of the 2014 film, Moms Night Out, provide a barrel of laughs with this 94 minutes of laughter and fun with some life lessons thrown in.
Allyson Field is a young stay-at-home mother of three children, all under the age of seven with an architect husband who travels frequently, leaving her with the sole responsibility of taking care of the children. She has a ‘mommy blog’ where she pours out her frustrations, fears and challenges but that isn’t even helping as nobody seems interested in what she has to say.
Her children are precocious as some children are at that age, and keep her busy with their various antics and mischief. Her daughter has a thing for drawing on the walls and her son has a special connection with the toilet seat. Being a perfectionist, she sometimes has irrational fears of her children choking on small items or drinking cleaning liquid and the police coming to take them away from her. So she keeps her house spotless but this also is frustrated by her children who find reasons to scatter the house at every point.
Mother’s day doesn’t go well for her as her children are in their element and her husband, Sean, is on one of his numerous trips. Being a Sunday, she manages to herd her children to church and looks forward to a few hours worshipping God in peace but that is thwarted by her son who has an accident with the toilet seat.
In frustration, she leaves her house in a mess and waits up for her husband who brings her flowers and assures her that she is the best mother ever. She confesses that she hates her life and feels terrible for hating her life as being a wife and mother is all she’s ever dreamed about. She claims to suffer from stress disorder and her husband reassures her of her worth and goodness.
After her husband encourages her to have a night out with her friends, she invites Izzy, her best friend from high school who has twins and a husband who has an irrational fear of bikers and children, and Sondra, the pastor’s wife who has to live up to her image as a pillar in the community and has a teenage daughter who is tired of being the preacher’s kid and wants to rebel.
Despite her fears and reservations, Allyson leaves her children with her husband and his friend who she claims has refused to grow up and still plays video games. Izzy’s husband, Marco joins the guys and is panicking as he doesn’t know how to handle his twin boys without his wife.
After a mixed-up restaurant reservation, Allyson, determined to enjoy her night out, seizes her friends’ phones, locks them in the car and they go to a bowling alley where they meet Sean’s half-sister, Bridget who left her baby with her ex-boyfriend to babysit so she can work. A slip up from Allyson has Bridget interrogating her ex who reveals that baby Phoenix is with some unsavoury characters.
The missing baby leads all four women on an adventure that leads them to a tattoo parlour, a biker, a drug user, a police chaser and ultimately lands them in jail. Overwhelmed that her well-thought out plan to give herself and her friends a night off, has ended disastrously. A conversation with the biker, Bones, helps her realise that indeed God did not make a mistake in making her a mum. He loves her just the way she is and she is enough for Him.
This film is recommended for all the mothers out there who are feeling overwhelmed and do not think they can survive past the first 18 years of their children’s lives. It is also for fathers, who are encouraged to help their wives every step of the way, and pitch in so they can have a break once in a while.
The comedic tone of the film does not take away the fact that even the best of people or Christians as the case is, will feel way over their heads at certain times and a complete dependence on God and no pressure to be perfect is the only way to survive through life.
This film is a must watch for every family and a reminder that mothers are extremely important in our society and must be appreciated. Like Sean reminded Allyson, and we must also remember, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world”.