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Over-salted, undercooked: Rashid Irani reviews The Kitchen
Three women must carry on the work of their incarcerated mob boss husbands. Can they do it? The plot is tired; keep expectations low.
If the plot of this female-driven gangster thriller sounds familiar it’s because Andrea Berloff’s directorial debut bears some similarities to last year’s Widows, which incidentally was never released here after being showcased as the closing film of the Mumbai Film Festival.
Adapted from a comic book series, The Kitchen narrates a generic mafia tale with the singular difference that it’s told from the perspective of the wives of three Manhattan-based Irish mobsters sent to prison in the late-1970s.
Left with no option but to carry on with the work of their incarcerated spouses, the trio quickly turn into mafia bosses themselves. Cue ruthless aggression, outlandish twists and an ever-escalating body count.
Ostensibly a feminist call to empowerment, the film achieves its modest goals thanks primarily to the compelling performances of Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss.
Without their sterling contribution, The Kitchen would have been instantly forgettable.
