March 21, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On May 9, the rarest of combinations will hit the big screen: a family-friendly, mainstream movie.
With a star-studded cast including “Grey's Anatomy” actress Sarah Drew and “Lord of the Rings” star Sean Astin, as well as country singer Trace Adkins, “Moms' Night Out” takes a comedic look at the craziness of raising a family. From the yoga practitioner to the police chase scene to tasers and Bible study, all generations will find something to laugh at.
According to movie director Andy Erwin, the movie was “a real joy to work on.”
“Going into 'Moms' Night out', we felt that it's a story that, whether you're a Christian or not, it's very relatable from a family standpoint,” Erwin told LifeSiteNews. “Then there are the elements of faith, but not in a way that is heavy-handed, but honest and true. And it's laugh-out-loud funny.”
For Andy and his brother Jon, who co-wrote “Moms' Night Out,” this is their second foray into full-length films. Their first, “October Baby,” grossed over $5.3 million and earned a front-page article in the New York Times. Released in 2011 and based on a true story, it followed a teenager who survived an abortion and is looking for her birth mother.
“Jon and I don't go after a message first,” says Erwin. “We're very proud of our Christian beliefs, and that's something that I think is evident in whatever we do. Every filmmaker's worldview comes through.”
“'October Baby' was not a story we intended to tell. It was one that found us, and one we fell in love with, and one that we tried to tell as honestly as possible.”
According to Erwin, “What we're passionate about is looking for a good story. Something that I firmly believe in, something that really captivates my attention, my heart, in a way where I can honestly translate that for the audience.”
With “Moms' Night Out,” Erwin says “we feel like Christians like to laugh, too.”
“It's nice, as a Christian, to have something that's clean, that's a breath of fresh air, it's not something that's heavy-handed,” he elaborated. “It allowed us to do something completely different than anything we'd ever done before.”
Unlike “October Baby,” which addressed a heavy topic in a serious fashion, Erwin described “Moms' Night Out” as a lighter movie. He also said it appeals to more people. “The cool thing about comedy is it allows us to engage a larger audience. When you laugh at something, it takes away the fear of it.”
“I think as Christians, being self-aware and finding the little things that are part of Church culture – not making fun of, but being self-aware to being able to find the relatability. Not just in Church culture, but also in family culture,” he said. “You can either cry hysterically about the perils of parenting, or you can laugh at it, and have fun with it.”
“We didn't try to go out and find any kind of humor which is naturally there. We said, 'Story is king, and good characters is king.'”
Asked about character choices, Erwin said he and Jon “are about going out and finding the character. We went into this wanting to have a really great cast. That started with Sarah Drew from Grey's Anatomy. We needed somebody that was relatable, kind of this frantic, every-day mom, and she just crushed it.”
Drew's husband in the film, Astin, is “a friend,” and according to Erwin “is hilarious at improv comedy. He came in, and the chemistry between those two was hilarious.”
“When Sean signed up, we were excited. He [recently] got very health-conscious, and dropped about 40 pounds. He came out, and was physically fit, and now he's a leading man and a romantic interest.”
Patricia Heaton of “Everybody Loves Raymond” was also a lead character in the film, as a pastor's wife who is more stressed than everyone realizes. Erwin said that she worked hard at understanding how a real pastor's wife deals with life, with the stresses of being everyone's source of advice and friend.
Heaton was also the film's executive director.
“They're really developed characters, not caricatures that you typically see of Christians in the media, where they come across as cartoon characters,” Erwin said, “but real people, like anyone else, with relatable humor.”
It's no coincidence that “Moms' Night Out” comes to theaters on May 9, which is Mother's Day. While mothers will especially appreciate the comedy, the entire family will enjoy what Erwin says is a “heartfelt and believable” movie.