Movie Breakdown: The Kitchen
Pre-Screening Stance:
Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss star in The Kitchen, a comic book adaptation that’s also the directorial debut from Andrea Berloff (the co-writer of Straight Outta Compton). What an oddball combo of things, right? I do think the movie looks good though.
Post-Screening Ramble:
The Kitchen isn’t necessarily a bad movie, but it is a weird affair that already has a bigger and better sister out in the world – 2018’s Widows (from Steve McQueen). Like that film, this one follows a group of women who take on a life of crime after their husbands are taken out of it. Melissa McCarthy’s Kathy is the brains of the operation, Tiffany Haddish’s Ruby is the attitude and Elisabeth Moss’s Claire is … well, the third wheel. Strangely, I think her character has the most interesting arc in the film, but you could remove her from it and not much would change. Anyhow, at first this trio are in over their heads, but it isn’t long before they find their footing and essentially take over the organized crime game in their neighborhood (Hell’s Kitchen). Overall, it’s a solid story, but its tone is all off. Where the aforementioned Widows is an all-out drama with its characters in a position where they have to follow in their husband’s footsteps in order to survive, The Kitchen sets the stakes much lower (they choose to get involved) and it awkwardly floats between being serious and silly. For example, Moss’ Claire is a physically abused women who transforms herself into an empowered force, which is great, but she does so via a murder spree that’s more quirky and fun than anything else. So, like I noted up above, it’s an interesting shift, but instead of feeling conflicted about her becoming what she’s always feared (a violent person), I found myself chuckling at her newfound psychopathic tendencies. There’s other flippant elements at play in the movie, too, which makes each woman’s transition from tepid to confident devoid of any emotional weight. This means that while the film is fairly entertaining (outside of its rushed third act), its uneven tone causes it to miss the mark on being memorable, which is unfortunate.
I found The Kitchen to be OK. Maybe matinee it, or you could just watch Widows for a similar but superior experience.
One Last Thought:
It’s nice seeing Melissa McCarthy in movies like Can You Ever Forgive Me? and The Kitchen instead of terrible comedies. Too bad that her next movie, Superintelligence, sounds like another terrible comedy.
