Fun Mom Dinner (2017)

I am trying to figure out why I disliked Fun Mom Dinner so much. It's not that it isn't funny enough for a comedy, although it isn't. It's not that the cast are largely wasted, although they are. And it's certainly not that the whole thing ambles along towards a hugely predictable third act, although it does. I think it is all of these things and more. Mainly, it feels like someone saw the success of Bad Moms and tried to copy that "formula", and they failed.

The plot revolves around four mothers. They are stuck-in-a-rut Emily (Katie Aselton), single oversharer Jamie (Molly Shannon), grumpy Kate (Toni Collette), and a woman who can be relied on to run everything with military precision when need be, named Melanie (Bridget Everett). They all end up on a big night out while their kids are being looked after, drink flows, weed is smoked, and confessions are delivered in ways that allow the women to view each other in a different light. Basically. There are a few sub-plots (one involving two of the hubbies - Adam Scott and Rob Huebel - who are watching the kids, one involving a barman - Adam Levine - who takes a liking to Emily, and one involving a sweet guy played by Paul Rust) but they all feel clumsily inserted, and all continue to serve the lessons being learned about mothers still being women too.

Director Alethea Jones doesn't really do much wrong here, in terms of the technical stuff. The pacing is fine, the camera points in the right direction, and there are a couple of familiar pop hits in the soundtrack (although one of the better songs is used for a godawful karaoke scene). One of the biggest problems that the film has is the cast.

It's not that Aselton is bad, she's just not a very appealing lead. She is far too bland to bother about, as is the character she plays. Collette deserves much better than the material she's given here, as does the usually wonderful Shannon. Everett gets some of the best moments, and she fares the best out of the central quartet, perhaps because I wasn't familiar with her before this. Strangely, the male cast members fare a lot better, with Scott and Huebel a lot of fun, and Levine and Rust both managing to come across as nice guys with different ways of connecting with the women.

Which brings us to the other big problem here. The script. Written by Julie Rudd (and at least her husband, Paul, stops by to steal one scene), there just isn't enough here that works, largely due to the lack of decent laughs. The rest of the problems would be easier to forgive if the film remembered that it was a comedy. Almost every mainstream comedy has the standard chain of events leading to the group bonding, the pop music to either bring joy to the main characters or accompany a fun montage, and a clash of two very different demographics (as in the scene in which these mothers inadvertently crash a teen party). Those things are all fine and enjoyable enough, if done well.

Sure, if you find this available for free then you may want to give it a watch. But I am willing to bet that by the time the end credits roll you just wish that you'd rewatched Bad Moms. Not that this film was ever aiming to be that film, I can imagine someone telling me, . . . but we all know that it was.

3/10

Here's a disc available in America, if you really want it.

Osmosis Jones (2001)

Osmosis Jones is a standard tale of a reckless cop (Chris Rock) paired up with someone who is a stickler for the rules (David Hyde Pierce). There's an evil villain (Laurence Fishburne) with a plan to go down in history. And lives are at stake, although it is mainly just the one life (belonging to an unhealthy Bill Murray). The big difference here is that the cop is Osmosis Jones, paired up with a medicine named Drix, and the villain is a deadly virus with symptoms that may not be fully recognised until it is too late. And all of this is taking place inside the body of Murray, in animated form.

Directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, Osmosis Jones is a fun blend of animation and live action (most of the grosser moments involve Murray either helping the virus along or showing some nasty side-effects from the battles raging within him) that is helped by a great voice cast and a lot of wonderful little sight gags, even if they are all fairly obvious puns. It's also quite tame for a film that comes with their names attached, which seems more likely to be down to the script by Marc Hyman. It focuses more on transposing the tropes of a buddy cop action comedy into the setting of a human body than it does on the many potential opportunities for toilet humour.

The animation may be a bit rough around the edges but it does everything it has to do, and that includes some fun scenes that have our main characters depicted in their animated form while the background is the very live Murray (who is also joined onscreen by Molly Shannon, Chris Elliott, and Elena Franklin, who portrays his frustrated daughter).

Rock does very well in the kinda-lead role, his sharp, fast delivery working brilliantly alongside the smooth and deliberate tone of Pierce. Fishburne, voice matched by the character design, oozes threat and menace with his every line, and there are fun supporting turns from William Shatner, Brandy Norwood, and Ron Howard.

The idea of our bodies being regulated and looked after by small humanoid entites isn't a new one (and it's one that can keep delivering great entertainment when done the right way, as it was with Inside Out) and nothing here feels too original, which is probably the biggest problem that the film has. Overlook the sense of the familiar, however, and you will find an absolute little cracker of a film, one that was unjustly neglected when first released, and remains sorely overlooked nowadays. Seek it out, give it your time, and you may well find that you enjoy it almost as much as I do.

8/10

Osmosis Jones can be absorbed in exchange for cash here.
Americans can get it streaming into their homes here (but on disc, not just . . . streaming).