Oscar-nominated scriptwriter Andrea Berloff makes her directorial debut with The Kitchen, a surprisingly inert drama considering its cast.
It’s 1970s Hells Kitchen, and as the Irish gangster husbands of Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss are put away for a few years, so the three women take on the family business.
The Irish are pitted against Italians and orthodox Jews for control of construction and the streets but the women just aren’t wanted. And as a black woman, Tiffany Haddish more than confuses the traditional demarcation lines.
The problem is that in spite of an interesting premise, The Kitchen is neither dramatic nor comedic – a superficial veneer of its subject with the three women underchallenged in their roles.
Rating: 46%
Director: Andrea Berloff
Writer: Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton, World Trade Centre) – based on the DC comic book characters
Main cast: Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Bridesmaids), Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip, Like a Boss), Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man, Us)
An Opinion or Two 