The film that is most spoken of as being the greatest of all time is Citizen Kane (1941).  It could also be viewed as a Christmas movie.  The first word in it, “Rosebud,” was the name of the sled we see a young Charles Foster Kane (Buddy Swan) playing with around the time of Christmas.  I bring up the cinematic classic not to discuss its merits as a title to watch this time of year, but to point to a storytelling device it pioneered, and many have copied since.  They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but I do not know if that was the intent with A Bad Moms Christmas (2017).  Indeed, I feel strange putting them together in the same paragraph.  Yet, it has its Rosebud moment in the opening shot as Amy Redmond-Mitchell (Mila Kunis) looks upon her shattered house, thinking about how she has ruined the Holidays. The only way it is really ruined is by not acknowledging the importance of Jesus, but let us look once more at how other people view it.

How Amy becomes involved in A Bad Moms Christmas is the subject of most of the film.  After narrating for us the pressures mothers put on themselves this time of year, we see it added to when we learn that her demanding mom, Ruth Redmond (Christine Baranski), announces that she is coming to spend time with her daughter.  Conveniently, the same is happening for her two best friends, Carla Dunkler (Kathryn Hahn) and Kiki Wilson-Moore (Kristen Bell).  Their mothers have come to visit their children and grandchildren, and each are insane in their own right.  Carla’s mother, Isis Dunkler (Susan Sarandon), is as crazy as Carla.  She is rarely seen without a flask or smoking marijuana, and only comes into Carla’s life when in need of money.  Kiki’s mom, Sandy Wilson (Cheryl Hines), has a different kind of mania, one that manifests itself in an unhealthy obsession with her daughter.  Those relationships are explored, but it is the dynamic between Amy and Christine on which there is the most attention.  Christine’s arrival is not met with anticipation.  Amy’s new husband, Jessie Harkness (Jay Hernandez), says it all when he asks whether Christine will like him, and Amy bluntly replies with, “No.”  Actually, Christine mistakes Jessie for a Hispanic servant, and consistently forgets who he is throughout the film, but you get the idea.  Christine does endear herself to her grandchildren, giving them presents at every opportunity that Amy had not wanted them to get.  When Christine’s is not handing out expensive gifts, she is criticizing everything Amy is doing for the Holidays.  In Christine’s view, her daughter is not doing enough to make this time special for the newly separated family.  Amy desires a lowkey celebration while Christine believes it essential to make it as special as possible.  Where Amy wants to spend as much time as possible in pajamas, Christine has them doing activities at each opportunity.  Amy’s first reaction is rebellion, seeking comfort with Carla and Kiki as they get drunk and act the fool at the mall.  This gives Amy the courage to stand up to Christine when mom is forcing them all to go see the five-hour, Russian style Nutcracker.  Amy hears the kids’ complaints on their way to the theater and decides to take everyone to a trampoline themed amusement center where Carla and Kiki have taken their young ones.  Once home, Christine once more lays into Amy about her daughter’s poor preparation for Christmas.  At this point, Amy has had enough and says that there will be no more of Christine’s outrageous plans, such as the party mom had planned for over a hundred guests at Amy’s house without consulting the owner of the premises.  Christine reluctantly agrees to these demands.  As for the others, things are not going great, either.  Following Sandy sitting in the room as Kiki and her husband, Kent Moore (Lyle Brocato), begin to make love, Kiki and Sandy see a therapist.  However, before they can get to the subject of making healthy boundaries, Sandy leaves the room and the counseling center entirely.  The act that finally sets off Kiki is when on Christmas Eve, Sandy announces that she had bought the house next door.  There are no such boundaries between Carla and Isis, including when they dance together with Carla’s new male exotic dancer boyfriend Ty Swindle (Justin Hartley) as he performs.  Unfortunately, it is that kind of movie.  This might be great for them, but once Carla relents and gives Isis a check for thousands of dollars, Isis leaves the next morning.  Then, on Christmas Eve, with Amy, Jessie, and the kids returning from sledding, they come home to find that Christine has broken her promise to not have an extravagant party.  A furious Amy goes inside and angrily asks everyone to leave, including Kenny G (as himself).  When she next turns to through the fancy Christmas tree out, it gets physical between Amy and Christine.  It ends with Amy saying that she wants Christine out of the house, never to return.  As a Catholic, I have to give Christine some credit because the place she goes for comfort is Midnight Mass.  She is soon joined there by Isis and Sandy, and they each confront their failings as mothers.  Amy has her own moment in this regard, though it comes in talking with her father, Hank Redmond (Peter Gallagher), asking how he has managed to stay married to Christine for so long.  It makes Amy realize that she and her mom have the same drive to make this time of the year special for their children.  With this, Amy finds Christine in the church and they make amends.  Everyone gathers for Christmas Day dinner, which concludes with Christine, Isis, and Sandy declaring that they are heading to Las Vegas to spend New Year’s Eve in Nevada.

The only real moment of hope for this Catholic review in A Bad Moms Christmas takes place in the church.  Nonetheless, it also comes with annoyances.  While the name of the church in which Amy finds Christine is never explicitly stated, earlier Christine states that they will attend Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Suffering.  The only using I capitalized that is because it is a proper noun in the movie.  In real life, there is no title of the Mother of God that is under “Perpetual Suffering,” at least not one recognized by the Catholic Church.  There is Our Lady of Perpetual Help, or Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrows, but not suffering.  This was invented for the movie for comedic effect, meant to emphasize how Christine feels about her relationship with her daughter, and with her own mother, too.  Because that has the feel of being made-up, I would focus a little more on the general theme of the film, and that is the pressures mothers put on themselves to make the season bright for their families.  In this respect, though they have different approaches to doing so, Amy and Christine are the same.  This means a little more from a Catholic point of view.  For the most part, the things we do around Christmas are spiritually neutral.  There is obviously nothing wrong with wanting to spend time with family and do things like seeing the Nutcracker or sledding.  Such activities should be encouraged because they build bonds between family members.  Further, Amy and Christine deserve some credit for their sacrificial attitudes.  However, they are making Christmas traditions into an idol, worshipping them because of the possibility of others praising them for their efforts.  God can delight in the beauty you bring to the Holidays, but what He desires most is just a relationship with Him.  It begins with following other traditions, like going to Mass or praying.

It does seem a little silly to be talking about traditions in a movie like A Bad Moms Christmas.  It is inappropriate and irreverent at almost every moment.  Even children get in on saying the “F-work.”  There is no reason to watch this movie.