Moms' Night Out

After all that I've said prior about comedies today being vulgar, toilet-humored, tasteless vehicles, I finally found a comedy that isn't a great comedy, but it is certainly a family friendly film that has funny places and does it with taste. "Moms' Night Out" is a film that not only the adults can fun with, but kids as well. When was the last time we've seen a comedy that is geared to such a vast demographic?

All Allyson (Sarah Drew) and her friends, Izzy (Andrea Logan White) and Sondra (Patricia Heaton) want is a peaceful grown-up evening of dinner and fun-- a long-needed moms' night out. But in order to enjoy high heels, adult conversation, and food not served in a bag, they need their husbands, Sean (Sean Astin), Marco (Robert Amaya) and Ray (Alex Kendrick) to watch the kids for a few hours... what could go wrong? What!? We're talking about a bunch of guys who don't really raise the kids thinking they know their kids. So between Allyson making a dinner reservation on the wrong Saturday and losing it at the restaurant when they deny her and her friends a table, to the husbands injuring themselves when they take the kids to a video arcade and everything in between, these characters are in for one long Saturday night.

Others to round out the cast are David Hunt as the Cabbie, Trace Adkins as Bones, Abbie Cobb as Bridget, Allyson's sister, Kevin Downes as Kevin, a longtime buddy of Sean, Harry Shum Jr. as Joey, Bridget's ex, Sammi Hanratty as Zoe, Sondra and Ray's daughter, Michael Leone as Brandon, Shiloh Nelson as Bailey, and Brett Price as Sergeant Murphy.

This was effectively written and directed by the Erwin Brothers (Andrew and Jon) ("The Cross and the Towers" (Documentary) '06, "Alumni" (TV movie) '09, "October Baby" '11). Granted, this wasn't an overly original premise to work from, but this brand of comedy is much needed in a society of people feeling beat up, depressed, dragged out from all sorts of problems, that to see something one can take the whole family and get a good laugh might just what the doctor ordered. Maybe this film isn't based in anything real, but sometimes we need and want to see something fun and entertaining whereas this type of film works. Sugar-coated? Sure, but I'd rather see a comedy like this than endure four- lettered words, toilet-humored, fart jokes type of 'comedy'.

As said prior, if you like the typical comedy that we're besieged with far too often, this is not the film for you, however if you are looking to take your family to see a nice, clean comedy and get some laughs, this will fit the bill.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                             Rated: PG                          99mins.