One of the best genres of film that has lost a lot of luster over the years is the rom-com genre. In the past, this genre has had some of the greatest quotes in movie history or created a feeling filmgoers won’t forget while seeing these types of films. This is one of the oldest genres of film, but it just hadn’t blown me away in recent years. Sitting in Bars With Cake based on a popular book is the exception to the rule. This film was fantastic.

Jane (Yara Shahidi) and Corrine (Odessa Azion) are best friends and roommates. They hang out in their apartment together watching television, and they go out as well looking for men to date. Jane has a skill she uses as her way to take her mind off of her dating woes. Even though Corrine suggests she take her hobby of baking cakes and use them as ways to talk to men at bars, she agrees. This starts pretty simple until it hits a chord with friends and the patrons of the bars they go through.

Based on the book by Audrey Shulman of the same name, this film is about her life. With that comes an autobiographical feel to it. That being said, it has a subplot that isn’t that fun to watch. The fun aspects are the cakes and their names strewn all over the place. People are walking outside the bars with pieces of plywood, pictures on the wall, various other items in a refrigerator, and so forth. These cakes all have funny names and meanings to them. One cake has a rather rude title based on a bad experience she had. About a picture, women don’t want to get in their messages. 

The two stars of this film have great chemistry with one another. They seem like they enjoy being on screen together. Each of their stories within the context of the movie is very good. One is very sad but it shows the connection that they have with each other. Shahidi has been in these types of films before, but Azion was in the reboot of Hellraiser, so this is different for her. I felt like these two could have been friends in the real world outside the film, and their posie also seemed genuine to this story.

Besides the two main actresses in the film, the movie had a decent supporting cast, mainly the parents of the two young women.  Ron Livingston and Martha Kelly play the parents of the Azion character. They bring another element in the second half of the film. They are pretty funny. Livingston’s characters want to fix everything all the time. Shahidi’s parents were funny as well, wanting her to become a lawyer and not knowing she wanted to be a baker instead. Bette Midler, who plays their boss, is a nice addition as well.

Most comedies or young adult films try to shoehorn in dramatic story points to make the film more important. This one does something similar, but it felt more natural to the overall film. The dramatic moments involving an illness are quite painful to watch unfold on screen, but the filmmaker alleviates the dramatic moments with lighter moments from everyone involved in the movie. It wasn’t an easy transition  to change up the pace from Rom Com to dramatic storytelling.  This was seamless in this film. I never saw it coming.

Sitting In Bars With Cake was a pleasant surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting much but what I got was pretty good. The two leads were very fun to follow along with regarding their search for romance and baked desserts. The subplot that happened halfway through the film was quite dramatic and changed the feel of the story quite a bit but didn’t take away from the quality of the overall movie. Shulman used her own life as inspiration and it paid off this was a very good rom-com. I loved the concept of this film from beginnings to end despite the sad moments. 

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen