Sitting in Bars with Cake, 2023.
Directed by Trish Sie.
Starring Yara Shahidi, Odessa A’zion, Bette Midler, Ron Livingston, Maia Mitchell, Aaron Domínguez, Rish Shah, Martha Kelly, Adina Porter, Navid Negahban, Simone Recasner, Will Ropp, Charlie Morgan Patton, Rashaun Sibley, Casey Burke, Diep Tran, Reshma Gajjar, and Kayla Njeri.
SYNOPSIS:
Extrovert Corinne convinces Jane, a shy, talented baker, to commit to a year of bringing cakes to bars, to help her meet people and build confidence.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Sitting in Bars with Cake wouldn’t exist.
Anyone scrolling through Amazon Prime Video, stumbling across Sitting in Bars with Cake without any prior knowledge of the true story it’s telling will be in for quite a jolt when the narrative suddenly reveals that it’s about more than a bonding activity between two close friends bringing freshly made cakes into bars as a means to help one of them become more social and potentially pick up a boyfriend through her exceptional baking talent. It is also a story about that friendship and how it is tested when one begins suffering seizures from a life-threatening cancerous tumor.
For as believably vulnerable and emotional as stars Yara Shahidi and Odessa A’zion portray best friends and LA roommates Jane and Corrine throughout this grueling chapter in their lives, often imbued with specific details and dialogue that are unquestionably a byproduct of screenwriter Audrey Shulman, who turned these life events into a novel that she is now adapting here, there’s also no shaking the sensation that by leaning into the pain-and-suffering brought on by the illness, which is familiar and unremarkable aside from the strong performances, the film loses sight of its delicious hook.
Directed by Trish Sie, that’s not to say the unique premise of furthering Jane’s passion for baking and encouraging her to be more socially active by bringing her cakes into bars is exciting or engaging (it mostly comes down to pop music playing over her mixing ingredients), but it is at least something different to watch other than observing and going through the stages of this tumor and the inevitable, tragic ending. As for Corrine, she is the rowdy and reckless one blowing through life like a tornado, having her whole way of living turned upside down by this tumor. Again, that’s typically the character arc given in these movies, but here, there is a bit of a juxtaposition as Corrine is also forced into watching Jane’s life fall into place while hers falls apart.
That is also partly because Corrine insisted that Jane continue to bake cakes, moving forward with their project of bringing one into a different bar every week (taking off major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas week) and putting together a chart yielding the results from the guys met. It was something to look forward to every week, and she was never jealous or bitter about seeing her friend succeed. Naturally, this also allows viewers to easily track the passage of time as Corrine’s condition worsens.
The only other refreshing element here is that both Jane and Corrine also work inside the front office of a music studio, with the former in the mailroom and the latter with aspirations to be a hotshot agent with big ideas (such as a tour headlined by Billie Eilish and Billy Joel because they share the same first name.) It also demonstrates that Jane valued Corrine’s friendship so much that she was practically willing to follow her anywhere.
There are subplots here, such as visiting parents who would like Jane to follow in their activist footsteps and become a lawyer when all she wants to do is bake, which is something she is afraid to tell them. Meanwhile, Corrine’s parents are understandably concerned, wishing she would return home with them, ultimately backing off, considering that the best medical care is already in LA and recently received a job promotion. Nevertheless, as the condition worsens, they speculate on what else they could have done and whether they made the right choice.
At an unforgivably long two hours, most of Sitting in Bars with Cake follows the formula of the terminal illness subgenre too closely; it’s often melodramatic and routine, even if outstanding lead performances elevate the material. The film wallows in that pain instead of taking Corrine’s advice and focusing on the joy left to experience, although I understand and respect the choice by Audrey Shulman to honor her late friend the way she has here. It also skips over far too many opportunities to be unique and original, becoming less about bars and cake as the movie progresses.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published September 8, 2023. Updated September 7, 2023.
