The Kitchen

The Kitchen

I saw this only because I wanted to get out of the house and everything else decent I've already seen. Unless you read about the plot it's easy to assume it's a comedy because of Melissa McCartney and Tiffany Haddish. It's not. It's about 3 wives of gangsters who do their husbands dirty work while the husbands are locked up. They pack pistols. Fight, and deal with slimy gangsters. Nothing stood out at all in movie. Script was average nothing overly brilliant. It was just ok. My friend didn't seem to care for it that much either. I think Melissa and Tiffany need to stick to comedies.

This gangster flick - set in the titular Hell's Kitchen burrow of New York circa the late seventies - has some serious balls. Which could seem ironic considering it centres on three wives who step up when their Irish-American criminal husbands are locked up for armed burglary. Directed by first-timer Andrea Berloff (who also penned the screenplay), this is a brutal, no-holds-barred cinematic take on the comic-book miniseries it adapts. This is no superhero story though, it's all about our protagonists kicking arse and taking names. Ferocious barely describes the leading trio: Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish shed their comedic backgrounds for ice-cold powerplays and ruthless shakedowns in their pursuit of building an empire, whilst Elisabeth Moss is blood-chillingly merciless as the youngest of their group. Although this is ostensibly a movie about feminism, and there's the odd mawkish moment that's a little too on-the-nose, Berloff makes multiple bold choices that consistently plays against your expectations (not least allowing the always-brilliant Margo Martindale to go full matriarch-monster). These women go toe-to-toe with their male counterparts in numerous ways: violence, betrayal, strong-arming, manipulation. There's no time for the stereotypical silent-wife-with-quiet-dignity here, they want power and will do whatever's necessary to get it. Berloff doesn't get everything right though, the pacing in particular is a big concern. The choppy editing and sudden time-jumps don't allow the characters to breathe or subplots to fully develop, meaning it lacks the substance to match its style. I'm convinced there's a three-hour version of this movie on the cutting room floor somewhere. It may feel rushed and occasionally pales in comparison to the Scorsese crime epics that are clearly big influences, but The Kitchen is beautifully shot, superbly acted and interestingly vicious.

The Kitchen is a new crime drama directed and written by Andrea Berloff. This is only the first film she has directed. She is also known as a co-writer of films such as Straight Outta Compton, Sleepless and Blood Father. The film is set in 1978 where three members of the Irish Mafia are arrested by the FBI in Hell's Kitchen. This leaves their wives without further illegal income. Kathy (Melissa McCarthy), Ruby (Tiffany Haddish) and Claire (Elisabeth Moss) decide to take over the places of their husbands at the Irish Mafia to keep them under their control and still get money. In this way, they successfully manage the criminal organization of their partners and eliminate competition from other criminal organizations. This film comes across as a lesser version of last year's Widows film. In that film, wives also copied crime practices from their partners, but this film played in more modern times. Because this film is set in the 70s, it is more difficult to take the story seriously that Irish wives can easily run the Mafia world. You would expect that the American or Italian Mafia would try to take over. The rest of the Irish Mafia also takes the orders of the three women a little too smoothly. You would expect a male member who would react more rebelliously. That this is the first film that Andrea Berloff has only directed and written, is reflected in the quality of the film. The story is told too unclearly and apart from the fact that you know that the three women are married to the Irish Mafia leaders, you don't know much about their characters. Elisabeth Moss is actually the only character that gives you some background information. The film also has too many scenes in which your characters can only see place to place without any further meaning. You also do not see clearly that the three women commit criminal acts. They actually talk more about acts they have done without you seeing this as a viewer. For example, this film actually talks more about the criminal acts than actually shown.

Lots of talented actors wasted. Act 3, probably because a competent director was brought in to pinch hit, showed some signs of being an actual movie, but this train wreck was to far gone by that point. The below the line work was excellent. Give this one a pass.

What a waste of time! Terrible acting, too many themes into one single plot, inexplicable shifts, bad lines, weak ending, stiff dialogues... ugh!! It could've been such a powerful movie and the soundtrack is great, so why did they have to ruin it?

In 1970s Hell's Kitchen, 3 protection racketeers are sent to prison. The guy who replaces them doesn't collect efficiently, doesn't provide protection, and doesn't provide for the 3 wives. So the wives decide to run the racket themselves, on their own terms. This puts certain noses out of joint, and things get nasty. This crime thriller is based on a comic, and one which I happen to have read recently. I found the film rather better than the comic: the characters were more roundly realised and it was easier to tell between them (the comic came across with the characters being fairly indistinguishable). Having read the comic first, I was a little surprised to see Melissa McCarthy heading the cast. However, this is not in any way a comedy, and the principal women (McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss as the wives, and Margo Martindale as the local matriarch) are all first rate. The men aren't bad. The story doesn't hold any huge surprises, but it is well told, and varies here and there from its source material. There is some graphic violence, and some very ripe language. Generally, I enjoyed it.

I wasn't expecting much based on the reviews that I loosely glanced at. I was very pleasantly surprised. I thought all three actresses and several of the men did a great job. I read something about this being based off of some comic? I don't know anything about the comic story so I can't comment on that, but overall I enjoyed the acting, the musical score and the surprises the film revealed. If anyone doesn't think it's believable that women running a mob would be far more ruthless than the men, well, you don't know women very well.

Violent crime drama. Set in 1978, 3 wives of Irish mobsters take over after their husbands are imprisoned for armed robbery. After a weak start the movie progresses at a better pace although I couldn't help thinking Melissa McCarthy was badly cast and her rise to power was all too easy. The movie made me think of 'Widows', which I didn't enjoy much either. The whole movie is pro extortion, murder, and corruption in the manner of Scorsese but not really made in a way that can be compared. Probably not one to watch.

I loved this film. The acting was great. The female leads perfect. It was so entertaining. Plenty of dark humour. I don't often leave reviews but quite honestly the negativity is totally unfounded and this movie is well worth a couple of hours of your life!