Movie Review: Moms' Night Out

Moms' Night Out (Opens May 9 in US and Canada)
Cast: Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, Trace Adkins
Directed by: The Erwin Brothers
Review by: Heidi Gustafson

Synopsis: All Allyson and her friends want is one night of peaceful adult conversation and dinner out in the real world.  But in order to be able to dress up and wear their high heels again, they need their husbands to watch the kids for a couple hours.  No problem, right?

Feeling overwhelmed by her self-imposed expectations concerning child rearing, Allyson (played by Sarah Drew of “Gray’s Anatomy”) initiates a night out for herself and two of her friends that will allow them to dress up and wear high heels so they can participate in the world of grown-ups again. Their trepidatious husbands agree to watch the kids. Sean Astin plays the role of Sean, Allyson’s husband. Chaos ensues involving erroneous dinner reservations, a missing van, a lost baby and one injured husband, with unscheduled stops at a bowling alley, a tattoo parlor, an emergency room and the local precinct.

Moms' Night Out gets trailer and release date

"Moms' Night Out," starring Sean Astin, Sarah Drew, Patricia Heaton, Trace Adkins and Harry Shum Jr. has an official trailer and a release date: May 9, 2014 (unsurprisingly Mothers Day weekend!)

"All Allyson and her friends want is a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and conversation… a long-needed moms' night out. But in order to enjoy high heels, adult conversation and food not served in a paper bag, they need their husbands to watch the kids for three hours—what could go wrong? MOMS' NIGHT OUT is an endearing true-to-life family comedy that celebrates the beautiful mess called parenting."  —Movie website.



Here are some screen caps of Sean from the trailer and other sources:

Sean and his movie wife Allyson, played by Sarah Drew, share a romantic moment.

Sean Astin interview in Dubai magazine

Sean Astin did an interview for Layalina Magazine while in Dubai for the Middle East Film and
Comic Con in April. My thanks to Abeer Mahmoud and Khaldoun Qaddoura who conducted the interview, and provided me with the English version and photos. Read on for Sean's thoughts on visiting the United Arab Emirates, plus some inside info on his upcoming roles in "Extraction," "Santa Switch," "Moms' Night Out" and "The Boys of Abu Ghraib."

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After the overwhelming success of last year, the Middle East Film and Comic Con April 5 & 6, 2013 had returned stronger and bigger. People queued for hours while dressing up innovatively as their favorite characters in order to get the chance to meet up with the celebrities and get their autographs.  It was a great privilege to get the chance to interview the American Actor Sean Astin, who starred as “Sam” in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in addition to many other remarkable roles. Sean Astin, “Abu el Banat” as he calls himself (the father of daughters) gave us a brief about his future plans, and opinion about the Middle East Comic Con in which we got the chance to see further into his lovable personality. 

Articles about Moms' Night Out

Several interview and articles about "Moms' Night Out" appeared today.

• From Global Christian Post: Patricia Heaton: "Moms' Night Out" is Fun For the Whole Family, Good For Marriage

"Sarah is great, and every woman in America is gonna wish she was married to Sean Astin, just warning you guys," the actress joked of the actor's role in "MNO."

• From al.com: Birmingham filmmakers Jon and Andrew Erwin finish shooting family comedy "Moms' Night Out"

[Sean] Astin and [Sarah] Drew play husband and wife Allyson and Sean in the movie.

“I love that the film is not just a comedy but also a love story between Allyson and Sean,” Drew said.

• From pathos.com: Interview: Sean Astin on Who Told Him “Every Human Interaction is Sacred”

Sean Astin has acted in some of the most beloved and successful films of all time. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which he played Samwise Gamgee, has generated worldwide grosses in the billions. So finding him at at a Birmingham bowling alley, shaking hands and signing autographs, after a long day’s shoot on a Christian movie set is more than a little challenging to anyone who might have too rigid stereotypes about what Hollywood movie stars are all about.

Moms' Night Out official sites

An official web site and Facebook page have been set up for "Moms' Night Out" a family comedy starring Sean Astin, Sarah Drew, Patricia Heaton, Trace Adkins, David Hunt, Andrea Logan White, Robert Amaya, Abbie Cobb, Harry Shum, Jr, Alex Kendrick and Kevin Downes.

Here are a couple additional behind the scenes photos from filming:

Sean and the movie grips.

Mom's Night Out from the makeup trailer

These photos were posted by Janae Burnsides, one of the makeup artists for "Mom's Night Out."

Also, check out this article at al.com which quotes this blog as a source! :-D According to them, the name of the movie may be changed to "Moms on the Run."

After his Color Run 5K, Sean showed up at the makeup trailer still looking a bit colorful!

More on set photos from "Mom's Night Out"

Sean Astin has finished filming the family comedy "Mom's Night Out," with Sarah Drew, Trace Adkins, Patricia Heaton and Harry Shum Jr. It is expected that the movie will be released in time for Mother's Day 2014. Here are more onset photos, mostly from the Treetop Family Adventures scene, plus a little off-set adventure!

Be sure to scroll down for some interesting trivia about Sean's movie daughter!

Much of the filming took place overnight, though Sean was able to have an adventure of his own with bikers on set for a day scene.

Hobbit on a Harley!

"Mom's Night Out" at Bowling Alley

The cast and crew of "Mom's Night Out" have spent the last couple of days filming at Oak Mountain Lanes in Pelham AL. Cast spotted included Sean Astin, his movie wife Sarah Drew (Grey's Anatomy), Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond, The Middle), country music legend Trace Adkins, Harry Shum Jr (Mike Chang from Glee), Abbie Cobb (Subagatory), Sammi Hanratti, Andrea Logan White and Robert Amaya.

Sean and movie wife Sarah Drew

More behind the scenes photos from Mom's Night Out

As first exclusively reported here, Sean Astin continues to film "Mom's Night Out" in Birmingham AL and vicinity. Some other stars mentioned as being involved include Sarah Drew, Patricia Heaton, Abbie Cobb, Sammi Hanratty and Trace Adkins!

Here are some behind the scenes photos, starting with two of Sean with his movie kids!

At Treetop Family Adventures.

Exclusive! Sean Astin filming Moms' Night Out

According to tweets by the Birmingham Airport and Brian Dichiara, Sean Astin is currently filming a movie directed by brothers Jon and Andrew Erwin in Birmingham, AL. We can exclusively report that the family comedy is "Moms' Night Out," set for distribution by Sony's Provident Films.

It’s a story about a mother named Allyson [Sarah Drew], who has three wonderful, energetic, creative, imaginative, industrious (and did we mention energetic?) children all under the age of seven. She is attempting to be “Super-Mom,” but it’s only making her super-stressed and super-tired. So when her husband Sean [Sean] suggests she take a night off with her friends, she figures a nice relaxing dinner with some good grown-up conversation will be just the break they all need. But when “nice relaxing dinner” turns into nachos at the bowling alley, and leads to talking herself out of jail, it is clear that something has gone wrong… terribly wrong. Source

Sean filming at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Photo by @BHMAirport.

Photo by @scubakyle

Check here for more behind the scenes photos and news!