The Kitchen

Based on a comic book, The Kitchen follows three circa 1970s housewives (Melissa McCarthy’s Kathy, Tiffany Haddish’s Ruby, and Elisabeth Moss’ Claire) as they pick up where their protection-racket-slinging husbands left off after the men are sent to prison. It’s a fairly promising setup that’s employed to continually ineffective and mostly tedious effect by Andrea Berloff, as the first-time filmmaker has infused The Kitchen with a bland and hopelessly generic feel that’s reflected in its various attributes – with the paint-by-numbers vibe preventing the movie, at any point, from adopting the gritty, tough-as-nails Berloff has clearly intended. This is despite solid performances from folks like McCarthy, Moss, and, cast as a local mob figure, Bill Camp, although it remains clear that Haddish is completely out of her depth and element here (ie she’s just not believable in the slightest, particularly when compared with her dynamic costars). The pervasive lack of momentum paves the way for a second half that grows less and less interesting as time progresses, and it is, in the end, impossible to label The Kitchen as anything less than a hopeless misfire that’s been riddled with artificial, unconvincing elements.

*1/2 out of ****