The first trailer for Fun Mom Dinner dropped a few days ago, and it looks like hanging out with the parents could actually be a really wild time.
This new female-driven comedy starring Toni Collette and Molly Shannon promises to deliver this summer. The title is pretty self-explanatory—four busy and burnt-out moms get together for a “fun” dinner night out of the house. But, like many comedies that have come out this past year, this one seems to center on a perfectly normal situation gone terribly awry (like Fist Fight, Rough Night, Girls Trip, etc).
Writer Julie Yaeger Rudd and director Alethea Jones are certainly not re-inventing the wheel with this movie. But from the looks of the trailer, it could be another smart, feminist take on a tried-and-true formula.
Mommy tropes with a twist
The trailer emphasizes all the normal mommy tropes—screaming kids, carpools, poop everywhere. Not a new scenario, but always exhausting to witness nonetheless. Clearly there is inter-mommy tension in the kids’ school. Bridget Everett plays what looks like a domineering career chaperone/PTA parent who will go to such lengths as taking parents’ phones away if she suspects them of texting and driving.
Other moms, like Collette, Shannon and Kate Aselton do what they can to hold their family lives together, which doesn’t leave much time left over for socializing. In spite of all this, the four women come together for what is supposed to be a tame meal at a restaurant, but becomes so much more as the repressed bunch let their proverbial (and literal) hair down. Adam Levine even makes a cameo appearance as a potentially homewrecking bartender. Talk about playing against type!
Not so one-dimensional
Already I’m excited to see this movie because these mothers are obviously complex individuals. They have multi-faceted lives that don’t necessarily revolve entirely around their families, even though that pulls most of their focus.
They also don’t let their husbands steamroll their lives. About forty seconds into the trailer, Adam Scott, playing Aselton’s husband, proudly proclaims that he’ll be “babysitting” for the night so his wife should feel free to do as she wishes. Aselton is visibly offended by this and responds, “It’s not babysitting when they’re your kids!” Wow, yeah touché, Mom! I hope this film tackles more subversive perceived sexism like this moment!
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Fun Mom Dinner will be in theaters and on demand on August 4.