An Amazon Prime original movie currently streaming. Feeling she doesn't have a means to talk to guys at bars, a lowly record company mailperson, Yara Shahidi, decides to bake cakes (different ones for every venture she makes to a particular watering hole) as a means to break the ice which her roommate & best bud, Odessa A'zion (from Hulu's Hellraiser remake), wholeheartedly is in favor of which does stir up conversation & taste buds but life decides to throw a monkey wrench into the works when A'zion, who complains of constant headaches, is given a cancer diagnosis which she now has to fight. Throughout the health crisis, both friends try to maintain a positive outlook throughout A'zion's treatment by still frequenting cantinas w/their baked goods until the specter of bad news, the treatment doesn't work, puts the film into autopilot as both friends have to navigate a new course in their relationship. W/an unwieldy title (how about Barcaking?) & asking the audience to believe Shahidi would have trouble finding a date, this tale, inspired by true events, is all surface w/a storyline which has been done much better (2020's All My Life, also based on a real couple which involved food & Zoe Saldana's excellent From Scratch limited series on Netflix) making this venture into the romantic culinary arts (how much money is she making, those ingredients are not cheap?) kind of reminiscent of a deflated soufflé baking in the oven. Forgive the pun, it wrote itself. Also starring Bette Midler as the roomies' boss, Ron Livingston as A-zion's dad, Rish Shah (from Ms. Marvel) as Shahidi's love interest, Navid Negahban as Shahidi's dad & frequent Disney/Freeform star Maia Mitchell as one of the best buds' best bud.
Review of Sitting in Bars with Cake
