The Single Mom’s Club Review
I kind of liked it and am having a difficult time figuring out why.
Occasionally I will see a movie that is so far outside the pram that my friends all ask “Why in the world did you see that movie?” This is not a question that haunts me however. As I am sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start I can see the logical steps in my mind and life that led me to watching What to Expect When You’re Expecting or Pitch Perfect. It makes sense from the comfort of my theater seat.
Not so with this film. I’m still not sure why I saw it. I generally avoid reviewing Tyler Perry movies. Having not grown up in Black America I sincerely doubt my ability to accurately perceive what is good or bad in one of his films and a crippling fear of being perceived as racist or culturally insensitive keeps me away (on the other hand whenever they do films about White Trash America I am all over it. Be true to your heritage!). I see most of them but tend to wait for NetFlix. Also while I do feel OK about writing reviews about chick flicks it is not my personal interest and so they tend to slip the net more frequently than sci fi films.
However last night was St. Patrick’s Day and in spite of my Irish blood have always felt vomiting up green beer is the height to stupidity. I am not a big fan of bars and crowds of drunks and so found myself at loose ends. My movie choices were this one and About Last Night and honestly there is only so much Kevin Hart comedy I can absorb in a month (there’s the cultural insensitivity!). Plus this film is reportedly an original and I think About Last Night is a remake. Also watching That Awkward Moment has left a sour taste in my mouth for films about how easy it is for guys to hook up with super hot chicks (Not that I’m bitter. For the record the irony of avoiding such a film while skipping out on one of the biggest party nights of the year in order to sit by myself watching a chick flick in a theater eating popcorn and Jr. Mints for dinner is most definitely not lost on me.).
So I ended up in the Single Mom’s Club (Mom image courtesy of the Funny T Shirt category) and truly expected it to be the chickiest of the chick flicks. I was pretty sure this film was going to cause my genitalia to be reabsorbed into my body and grow into a vagina and to be fair I did feel a little retraction of the testes (although when you think about it what am I really using them for anyway?). However as the film progressed I found myself engrossed in the story and discovered it was about women supporting each other in a good way, not about male bashing and pointing fingers at dudes.
The appeal of this film comes mainly from the characters, who are diverse and interesting. It is an assemblage cast and story but managed to avoid most of the pitfalls made by other crappy assemblage movies such as New Years Eve. The main trap it missed was it did not give us 14 different characters with trite, insubstantial story lines that mesh in only the most tertiary manner. Instead it gave us five reasonably strong characters who’s stories blended and interacted with each other in order to reinforce each in turn. It made me care about them all, the true sign of a decent film.
That is not to say this film should be up for any awards. The stories themselves are rehashed old After School Specials and are all resolved in the happiest, most trite manner ever. The single mothers struggle to make it as single moms and show that by…sitting around together bitching about their lives while drinking red wine and more or less letting their kids run rampant in the street (or so I assume. That’s what I would have been doing at age 12). Listening to a mom bitch about having to take care of her three kids when she doesn’t have to work and lives in a fairly palatial house kinds of lets the air out of the tires of tension if you know what I mean. Only one of the five seems to struggle in the classic “single mom” way.
But I guess a weak story can succeed of the characters are appealing. The story is of course of five single moms from different walks of life and cultural diversity. There is May (Nia Long-Boiler Room, Friday, Big Momma’s House), a newspaper writer who’s son feels the need to see his father (who has a drug problem we are told. You never see the man); Hillory (Amy Smart-Crank, Road Trip, the Butterfly Effect), a yuppie mother of three who’s lawyer ex husband is wrecking her in the divorce and who has a crush on her hot neighbor; Jan (Wendy McLendon-Covey-10 Rules for Sleeping Around, Bridesmaids, Reno 911), a driven book publisher who’s sperm bank daughter seems to hate her for being ignored; Esperanza (Zulay Henao-Fighting, Boy Wonder, Takers) a super hot mother who’s controlling ex husband undermines her parenting of their daughter just because he can; and Lytia (Cocoa Brown-Lakeview Terrace, Friendship!, An American Carol), a struggling working mom who is trying to keep her son from prison like his brothers.
All the kids go to the same exclusive private school and the moms are all called in to deal with their kids smoking and graffiti (someone call 1955 and tell them about the new preteen crime wave!). The principal tells them that the schools very progressive policy is to punish the parents when the kids get into trouble (I kind of like that policy. I see parents every day who deserve a good beating, especially when I’m at a 10pm movie showing on a school night and there are kids in the theater) and in order to keep their kids from being expelled need to work together to plan some kind of school fundraising event.
The five meet up and at first hate each other but in time become friends. They form the Single Mom’s Club in order to give them each time away from their kids by rotating babysitting duties. Each of them meets a dude (or in Esperanza’s case started with one) and support each other in dealing with their ex husbands, kids or whatever. Honestly that’s the story in a nutshell. Stuff goes wrong at a couple points but in the end they each find some kind of resolution to the major issue of their lives (or at least a new dude to date).
The stars:
Like I said before, a success in characters. None of them were Tyler Durden level of engagement but you got to like them all. Two stars. Acting was for the most part at least adequate if not good. One star. The film was a little sluggish at points but by the end it didn’t feel like the 111 minutes it actually ran. One star. It was a soft PG-13 but the dresses they stuffed Zulay Henao into made me realize it is my destiny to marry her (destiny is a harsh mistress). In fact most of the women were fun to look at. One star. It galls me to use phrases like “the bonds of sisterhood” but you could actually see them being formed and it was fun to see them support each other. One star. Not the huge waste of my life I thought it was going to be. One star. Total: seven stars.
The black holes:
If you really examine each individual story and the big story in total you realize this film is Baby’s First Single Mom Plot. The actual drama is minimal and you have all seen these stories in much more real circumstances. The single mom drama of Won’t Back Down was more impactful. One black hole. This movie is all about female characters and that carries through to the male ones. The women all were real and engaging and the men feminized caricatures of what women imagine dudes are good or bad. Kind of robbed the overall story of realism. One black hole. There was a weird thing going on during this film where I would like two or three scenes in a row and then hit one that just sucked. It was like eating grapes but one in four had a BB in it. One black hole. None of the kids were terrifically believable. That might sound churlish but I have seen great kid actors deliver amazing and most of these were at best mundane. There was one scene in particular between May and her son that had my eyes rolling. This might actually be a reflection on the director as it some directors seem more able to get good from kids than others. One black hole (and for the record I sincerely hope each of these kids grows up to be an amazing actor. They all have the potential). Total: four black holes.
So a grand total of four stars. That’s at the bottom of my good range (mediocre for me is typically 2 black holes to three stars) but still in the good. Worth seeing for the right person I’d say. However the filming looks like a made for TV movie so there is no need to see this on a big screen (in fact rumor has it they are making this into a TV show on OWN). Date movie? Sure. As long as you can get your date to associate you with the good male characters you will either get laid or the sweetest “let’s be friends” speech you ever heard (not that I’m bitter). Bathroom break? Assemblage movies rarely have critical plot scenes so pretty much anywhere you want. Your best choice would be the first time May is babysitting all 25 (or so it seemed) kids. Not a lot happens there.
Thanks for reading. My readership has shot up dramatically lately (in serious danger of breaking three digits) and I can only assume it is in major part thanks to you, my beloved regular reader. Follow me on Twitter @Nerdkungfu and hit the Like button up top if you would be so kind. Post comments on this movie or my review here and off topic questions or suggestions can be emailed to [email protected]. Have a great night. Talk to you soon.
Dave
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