The Kitchen
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson
Directed by: Andrea Berloff
Rated: R
You know, what they say when you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen and run the Irish mob. Maybe people don’t say that. That’s what this movie implies, though!
The Kitchen is based on a comic series about three housewives in 1970’s New York who watch their mobster husbands go to prison for their crimes. Instead of waiting for them to return home, they take matters into their own hands and take over the Irish mob. I admit the premise of this film is intriguing. There have been countless Hollywood mob films surrounding men since the dawn of cinema itself. The idea of women in the mob is an exciting concept. However, that concept is poorly executed in The Kitchen.
The main problem with The Kitchen is the bizarre screenplay. The film begins with its central characters living as housewives in 1970s New York. Yet, just 20 minutes into the film, they’re making moves to run the Irish mob like it’s a simple task. With one montage, they’re taking business away from the town’s most feared mob boss and threatening him! I don’t want to call myself a mafia expert because I’m certainly not. But I can say that in any other movie, they’d be killed immediately. Instead of building suspense between the women and the feared mob boss, he’s killed off in a random scene. Why hype him up as such a feared villain if he’s not going to have a significant amount of screen time? This scenario happens with multiple characters. They’re introduced to the audience, and you’re lead to believe they’ll be major players in some kind of mob war. Then they’re gone! It’s lazy storytelling. The women’s storylines don’t fare that much better. There’s a weak buildup to these women deciding to join the mob. They go to ONE job fair and decide, “no one’s gonna hire us because we’re women. Do you know where we’ll succeed? The Irish mob.” What is this logic? What if we all thought this way because one job interview didn’t work out?
The acting in The Kitchen is okay. Melissa McCarthy is probably the strongest in the bunch as Kathy, the leader of the pack trying to find a way for the women to be successful. Melissa has proven she can balance both comedy and drama. Her previous dramatic role, Can You Ever Forgive Me? got her an Oscar nomination. The Kitchen will not, but she is still compelling here. It’s the script that does her no favors.
Tiffany Haddish is ok as Ruby. It’s like she’s playing multiple people instead of just one character based on the series of insane plot twists surrounding her character. Haddish can’t entirely break free of the comedic actor label, especially when so much of her dialogue sounds like she’s throwing around one-liners when the scenes are supposed to be dramatic.
I don’t even know where to begin with Elisabeth Moss and her character’s storyline. She plays Claire, a battered housewife who eventually becomes the hitman (or hitwoman) of the group when she breaks free of her husband. She is shaking in the street one moment and shooting people the next as if that’s believable character development. This movie takes NO TIME to build its characters. Their personalities change in each act to fit the plot. Because of a 3rd act twist and some very poor screenwriting, Claire ends up feeling like a plot device instead of an actual character.
The cinematography fares no better than the screenplay in The Kitchen. Every scene is dimly lit with a dark grey filter. I understand that the film is attempting to show an area of New York that is grimy and dangerous, but there are ways to make that visually appealing. Each shot in this film is dull and lifeless.
The Kitchen is a poorly written mob story that becomes increasingly unbelievable with each insane twist. Save your time and money and stay out of this kitchen.
My Rating: 4/10
*All images belong to Warner Brothers