The Kitchen Review

Screenwriter Andrea Berloff has chosen to make her directing debut with her latest screenplay The Kitchen, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Ollie Masters of the same name. Bolstering three efficacious leading actresses in Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elizabeth Moss, the project had everything in place for it to be at a deeply layered and engaging film, but The Kitchen somehow manages to fall shockingly flat in almost every aspect. It’s clear that Berloff knew the story that she wanted to create, but it’s more apparent that she didn’t know how she wanted to tell it. Tone-deaf dialogue, terrible editing, and characters that are completely despicable and unlikable make The Kitchen a struggle to get through. So often does it attempt to achieve some sort of moving and thoughtful thematic connection to female empowerment, but the results are always pandering and hypocritical, leaving a disastrous film that completely lacks thoughtfulness or complexity.

Set in Hell’s Kitchen, New York circa 1978, The Kitchen follows Irish mob wives Kathy, Ruby, and Claire. Although the three women are in completely different situations regarding their relationships with their husbands, their lives soon take a radical turn when their partners become part of an FBI bust that sends them to prison for three years. Now lost and unsure where they belong in the mob hierarchy without their husbands, the three women decide to do the dangerous thing and start taking the business into their own hands, running the streets of Hell’s Kitchen and clearing out the competition. But with power comes responsibility and danger, and with their husbands not out of the picture forever, the woman must be prepared for anything to happen.

Berloff shows competent yet stale directing that lacks personality and character, while the performances given by every member of the cast are inconsistent throughout. Haddish and McCarthy make the most out of their characters dreadful dialogue and unlikable actions, while performances from Elizabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, and Common come off as forced and insincere. But nothing in The Kitchen is as obviously rushed as the films sporadic editing that adds layers of confusion to the already pointless and uneventful narrative.

The Kitchen struggles to find any conflict that’s worthwhile and interesting. By the time the film reaches its horrendous third act, the poorly blended mix of tragedy and humor partnered with the inability to develop interesting characters makes the climax of the film fall flat. Resulting in an ending that leaves nothing satisfying or complete, leaving the arcs of each character as lost as the audience members who decide to see this movie.

The dreadful editing and the lost narrative of The Kitchen are made worse by its pointless story elements and indecisive execution, giving the films strong leads almost nothing worthwhile to work with.

Produced By: New Line Cinema
Runtime: 103 minutes
Rating: R