Moms Night Out

Plot summary

Allyson Field is a young mother who is having a most unhappy Mother's Day. At first glance, she seems to have a life that many would envy. She is happily married to her loving husband Sean and they have three lively, adorable children. However, as Allyson types on her "mommy blog", she is beset with anxiety and feelings of unworthiness. She describes herself as a "freaky clean freak" who actually sees beauty in a padded cell. She has paranoid delusions about her children getting salmonella and child welfare workers taking them away. She realizes that she is living her simple dream of being a decent wife and mother and feels like a horrible person because of her inner demons. Allyson finds comfort in her two best friends Sondra and Izzy. Sondra is a pastor's wife, the pillar of the community, whom Allyson describes as her Gandalf and Doctor Phil. Sondra has a rebellious teenage daughter Zoey who acutely feels the stigma of being a pastor's daughter. Izzy is Allyson's high-school friend who has twins and is married to the lovable but bumbling Marco who has an irrational fear of bikers and small children. Allyson is deeply affected by a sermon that Sondra's husband gives about the high calling of motherhood and the sacrifices that are entailed. Sean recommends a night out for his overstressed wife, and she and Izzy and Sondra plan one that starts with dinner at a fancy Chinese restaurant. However, the evening is a disaster from start to finish. Sean's loopy half-sister Bridget comes to dinner and asks Ally to babysit her son Phoenix. Sean agrees to shoulder the responsibility with Marco and his friend Kevin, who loves video games and hates kids. In many ways Sean and Kevin are arrested adolescents. When Ally and her friends arrive at the restaurant they're told that their reservation has been lost and Ally has a mini-meltdown and throws away their cellphones. The three friends go bowling and Sondra tries to comfort the frazzled Ally telling her that God is always with her. The evening degenerates with further accidents and misunderstanding as the babysitters take the children to a video arcade with results in a trip to the emergency room and the men inadvertently taking the women's van. Things go from bad to worse when Bridget realizes that Phoenix is missing. The four travel across the city looking for him, and all four end up in a jail cell and Sondra gets tased. The film ends with everyone being happily reunited and Ally typing a happy blog proclaiming that while her life is stressed and crazy it is also beautiful. She finds the true meaning of a video that Sondra sent her showing an eagle caring for its young. Sean reminds her of the old saying that "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."

Cast

Production

Filming started in June 2013 in Birmingham, Alabama, and wrapped up on June 24th, the Erwin brothers announced.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 18% rating by critics, based on 38 reviews; the consensus reads "Cheap-looking, unfunny, and kind of sexist to boot, Moms' Night Out is a disappointment from start to finish." On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 25 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."

The film grossed $4.2 million in its opening weekend, finishing in 7th place. As of July 13, 2014, the film had grossed $10.5 million.