Patterson man plays bad hubby in 'Bad Moms'

Patterson resident Lyle Brocato, 37, plays Kent, husband of Kristen Bell’s character Kiki, in the newly released film “Bad Moms.”

“Bad Moms” is a comedy about three overworked and stressed-out mothers.

The unappreciated moms put aside their conventional responsibilities in order to experience long overdue freedom, fun, and self-indulgence, according to the STX Entertainment website.

“The story is really about mothers who are trying to do everything, trying to be perfect, who take too much on,” Brocato said. “And in this particular story, the husbands are not very much help, especially me.

“And if they’re the bad moms, I’m certainly the bad husband. I’m pretty much a huge jerk face. I go to work and I come home and expect four kids to be taken care of and everybody’s fed. And I don’t do anything.

“That kind of pushes Bell’s character to the brink,” Brocato said.

These moms form an alliance and realize that they are taking on too much. They are trying to be “too perfect and that they need to just relax, take a step back. And be bad moms for a little while,” Brocato said.

Working with Bell and other cast members was a wonderful experience, Brocato said.

His first day on set was with Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Kathryn Hahn in a restaurant scene. The moms have joined forces and go to lunch together. His character is finishing up lunch at the same restaurant, which is unknown to Bell’s character. But he sees them.

Brocato’s character comes in at the end of the scene. It gave him an opportunity to watch the “Bad Moms” cast engaged in acting from the sidelines.

“I’m just watching them all day pretty much just do their thing, like just be amazing and do improve, just be so funny,” Brocato said. “They’re really, really good actresses. They were wonderful to work with.”

A restaurant full of people and members of the cast and crew could be seen cracking up at everything the actresses were doing, Brocato said.

Between scenes, the cast shared stories with each other about their kids.

“Any time we had any down time for a new setup, everybody just kind of chatted about their kids,” Brocato said. “And it was really nice. You know, everybody likes talking about their kids. It was refreshing.”

The movie was filmed in New Orleans. It premiered Tuesday and is playing in theaters now. Brocato is in three scenes.

While “Bad Moms” is a comedy and fiction, there are still practical things moviegoers can take with them as they leave the theater.

“Walking out of the movie, I was like, you know this could be for moms or dads,” Brocato said. “Certainly because there are dads out there who take on too much and try to do everything. …

“I think that’s the nice message of the movie, it tells people to step back, don’t be bad, certainly don’t be a bad mom or a bad dad. But just take a step back and appreciate what’s around you, slow everything down a little bit and don’t put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect.”

More of Brocato’s work will be seen in the future. Tentatively scheduled for the fall is Cinemax’s television series “Quarry.” The show has eight episodes. Brocato will play the character of Pizzuti in four of those episodes.

Quarry is a story about Mac Conway, a marine returning home after the Vietnam War only to be shunned by family members and demonized by the public.

Brocato’s wife, also an actress, is Angelena Swords Brocato. He is father of two sons and another child is on the way. His parents are Mike and Loretta Brocato.