‘Bad Moms Christmas’ not much of a gift

In November and December 2003, the box office hit the holiday movie jackpot with the a trifecta of successful Christmas-themed comedies: "Elf," "Bad Santa," and "Love, Actually." Ever since, Hollywood has been altering and tweaking the big-name-fronted holiday comedy formats (fractured family comes together in spirit of the season) to fill their sleigh with bags of audience loot. Need proof? Take a look at the last few years of releases:

2004: Surviving Christmas: Rich dude (Ben Affleck) rents dysfunctional family to experience Christmases he never had. After chaos, finds love in family.

2004: Christmas with the Kranks: Rich couple (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis) decides to skip Christmas until his dysfunctional family decides to visit. After chaos, finds love in family.

2005: The Family Stone: Rich girl (Claire Danes) visits fiance's dysfunctional family (Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson) for Christmas. After chaos, finds love in family.

2006: Deck the Halls: Two rich dudes (Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito) with dysfunctional families rival one another to decorate their homes more extravagantly for Christmas. Finds love in family.

2007: Fred Claus: A rich man ... Santa (Paul Giamatti) invites dysfunctional brother Fred (Vince Vaughn) to spend Christmas at his home. After chaos, finds love in family.

2008: Four Christmases: A rich couple (Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon) visits their dysfunctional families for Christmas. After chaos, finds love in family.

2013: A Madea Christmas: A meddling woman (played by Tyler Perry) brings together a dysfunctional family at Christmas. After chaos, finds love in family.

2014: Saving Christmas: A rich man (Kirk Cameron) brings his dysfunctional family together by teaching that they should spend money to celebrate the birth of Jesus. After chaos, finds love in family.

2015: Love the Coopers: Rich, dysfunctional family (John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Ed Helms, Marisa Tomei) comes together on Christmas Eve. After chaos, finds love in family.

2016: Office Christmas Party: Rich, dysfunctional siblings (Jennifer Aniston, T.J. Miller) battle over style of their company's annual holiday bash. After chaos, finds love in family.

How many of these films have become holiday staples in your household?

This year, on two consecutive weekends, we have "A Bad Moms Christmas" and "Daddy's Home 2": two films featuring rich, dysfunctional families gathering for yuletide cheer, only to descend into chaos before ... you know the rest. To be honest, because it was not screened for critics beforehand, "Daddy's Home 2" may not end this way and pull a "Brian's Song" ending where Will Ferrell's character faces his mortality with a last-minute, terminal illness ... but chances are, there will be far more scenes with snowballs hurled at Ferrell's crotch. In the meantime, we have "A Bad Moms Christmas" a slapdash sequel (the original was released only 15 months ago!) that wastes not only the talents of its leads Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell, but invites another generation of esteemed actresses – Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, and Susan Sarandon – to tarnish their careers in the latter years.

I do not think I need to recount the plot, as you can check the list above to see just where this one is headed. Although its official runtime is one hour and 44 minutes, I am convinced that it's actually about 35 minutes, plus about a dozen slo-mo sequences in which the moms can look badass to a generic hip-hop song. But in that time, there is not a single character who even remotely resembles a human, and not one situation that is ratcheted up to "11" for supposedly comedic results.

It confuses "outrageous" moments with Hahn's oversexed character dropping various profanities (not even remotely colorful, either), or a body-waxing scene that goes on long enough that the unwanted hair should receive screen credit.

It's embarrassing for all involved, and it's tough feeling sympathy for any of the ladies who complain about their hectic lives, yet all their children and/or spouses seem to conveniently vanish for most of the film to make way for them to booze it up, head to trampoline parks or engage in various felonies.

There is at least truth found in its holiday-tinged title: for when it comes to Bad Christmas movies, this one is a Mother.