The first thing that a lot of people think of when you say “comicbook movie” is superheroes. Sure, those have been the big ones for the past few years. But not all movies based on comics involve capes and tights and over-the-top action. And there are many that mainstream audiences are surprised to find out are actually from comics. The most recent example of this is The Kitchen. 

Based on the miniseries from DC’s Vertigo imprint, The Kitchen is about a group of women married to Irish mobsters in Hell’s Kitchen (thus the title) back in the 1970s. When their husbands get busted and end up in jail for a few years, they’re forced to rely on “the family” for support, but they get very little help. And so they decide to take things into their own hands and start running the business that the other mobsters seem pretty inept at taking care of.

The plot is well-paced and believable for the mob world that movie-going audiences have come to recognize. It’s a gritty, real world, street level drama with a few twists and a lot of killing. But the heart of it is the three female leads (Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss) who do a great job even though their characters lean toward stereotypes (which the movie is full of, considering it’s New York in the 70s). There’s an obvious feminist overtone to the story, which is somewhat satisfying even when there’s not a lot of sense behind some of the choices these characters make.

The Kitchen is a good movie – not a great one – if you enjoy drama and mobster flicks. And they did a really good job with the setting – from clothes to cars to hairstyles, it’s unquestionably the 1970s. But though it does wrap a few things up by the end, the conclusion is a bit open ended and not entirely satisfying. It was enjoyable enough and I don’t regret seeing it, but it’s not one to rush out to see on the big screen, nor would I feel any need to give it a second look once it hits Netflix.