Flashback Friday: The Kitchen (2014-Present)

There is nothing like getting together with friends. Adding food into the mix can only make the experience more pleasurable.

The Food Network series, The Kitchen, has been on the air since 2014. Five celebrity chefs (Katie Lee, Alex Guarnaschelli, Sunny Anderson, Jeff Mauro, and Geoffrey Zakarian) chit chat about life as they each create a dish based on a specific theme or style of cooking.

This is one of those shows that I will watch just because I feel the need to turn the television on. I am not a foodie, so watching a straight up cooking show is not my idea must see TV. After 7 years of being on the air, there is obviously a loyal following. But I am not one of them. It’s fine a program, but it is not for me.

Do I recommend it? Not really.

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The Kitchen Movie Review

When it comes to gangster films, female characters usually fall into one of two categories. If they are any sort of prominence within the narrative, they usually fall within the romantic or familial label: wife/girlfriend/mistress or the sister/mother/ daughter. If they are not prominent within the narrative, they are a nameless and faceless background character.

The new movie, The Kitchen attempts to change that. Based on the comic book of the same name, the film is set in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1978. The Irish mob, known as the Westies, unofficially rules the neighborhood. When three of their members are sent to jail, their wives take their places within the mob organization.

Kathy Brennan (Melissa McCarthy) is a devoted wife and mother. Ruby O’Carroll (Tiffany Haddish) is treated like an outsider because she is an African-American woman married to a Caucasian man. Claire Walsh (Elisabeth Moss) has been knocked around by her husband more times than she can count.

Not only must the women contend with opposition from the men, they must also content with the fact they are breaking the law.

What I hate is that this movie has so much potential going for it. It has a great cast and a narrative, that if written well, could be compelling. Instead, this movie falls flat on it’s face.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely not.

The Kitchen is presently in theaters.