If you’re having deja vu: yes, this is an expanded version of my prior post, now that I can reveal more details about the movie.
True confession: I’m not the greatest at self-care.
Like many moms, I tend to take care of everyone else around me before me. The needs/wants/crises of kids, dogs, husband and house can seem so vital, and it’s easy to let those take over the majority of our days.
As I’ve gotten older, and my kids have gotten older, I have gotten better at self-care, but mostly in a solo way. I run, and I make the time to read a lot of books, and I make sure to get my daily quota of chocolate (especially now that Lent is over).
But I’m not very good at self-care of the “getting together with friends” variety.
As I get older, I realize how important that kind of self-care is: being intentional about fostering friendships that nourish us.
Last month, I got the chance to see a screening of Moms Night Out, a movie coming out this Friday. (!!!)
I get invitations to a fair amount of movie screenings, usually family friendly ones, often by faith-based filmmakers. I wrote about October Baby here , and I loved that one (coincidentally— or not—Moms Night Out is made by the same filmmakers: the Erwin Brothers.) But I haven’t written about very many others.
Sometimes the movie, even if it’s pretty good, doesn’t seem like a good fit for a review here, or I run out of time. Sometimes it wasn’t a good fit for me—I tend not to like violence in films, or too slow-moving films. Sometimes the movie is good but not great, or it’s not very good at all.
Moms Night Out is a good, good movie. It’s a super-fun, going out with your friends, laugh-out-loud movie.
It’s not just a fun “faith-based movie,” or a fun “clean movie.” It’s a fun movie, period.
If I haven’t convinced you already, I loved Moms Night Out so much that I’m not only going to see it again when it comes out on this Friday, May 9 (Mother’s Day weekend, natch), but I’m organizing a group of moms to go see it.
This movie made me laugh, smile a lot, and even tear up a few times.
Loves:
*Sean Astin as one of the dads. Because I’m such a LOTR geek.
*Trace Adkins. I don’t know much about country music, so I didn’t realize that Trace Adkins is a country star. I would not have known he wasn’t a “real actor” at all. He’s does well and carries several pivotal scenes admirably.
*Patricia Heaton is super enjoyable as the “older mom.” I realize that I’m now “that older mom” and so it’s great to have an attractive, funny actress playing that role for us.
*the term ”stress paralyzed.” Yes. Often.
*a cameo by musician Manwell Reyes of Group 1 Crew as a tattoo parlor concierge. In a family friendly movie. That’s all I’m going to say there.
*nothing contrary to our Catholic faith. Sometimes faith-based films can have something a little “off” in theology, but there’s none of this here. It’s just good fun, and the message of moms practicing self-care, being supportive of one another, and mostly moms knowing that we are all doing the best we can, and that God loves us unconditionally.
*I don’t know the rules for spoilers in movie reviews — I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to give away. So, being as non-specific as possible, let me say that I loved Donny Osmond as a child, and I still do? In another rare moment of self-care, not too many years ago I went to a Donny Osmond concert with my best friend from kindergarten (we LOVED Donny back then) and another similarly aged-friend, and it was SO.MUCH.FUN. This relates to an extremely funny line in the movie, but I felt the need to share this here.
Did I mention? The film comes out on May 9, the beginning of Mother’s Day Weekend.
Mother’s Day day (and weekend) at our house usually involves Mass, a family hike (or, as my kids like to say, a forced march, but it’s my day), chocolate, and lots of down time at home. I don’t often want to go out to eat, in general, as the restaurants are crowded, so we’ll make something delicious at home.
Added to that mix, this Mother’s Day weekend will kick off with a showing of Moms Night Out, and I hope a big group of friends will be going with me.
My friend Lisa Schmidt of The Practicing Catholic also reviewed Moms Night Out. I wish she were close enough to come along with us! Read her review here.
Some questions for you:
Are you good at self-care or not? What kind are you best at?
What do you plan for Mother’s Day for yourself and your family?
Will you go to Moms Night Out with me?
Here is the trailer, in case you’re not convinced: