[ad_1]
“Sitting in Bars with Cake” takes a drastic turn early on. What happens is based on true events, and the idea of cakebarring mainly flies out the window. Corinne faces a severe health challenge. Her parents (Ron Livingston and Martha Kelly) camp out in the young womens’ apartment, worrying and fussing. Corinne’s illness is the galvanizing force of “Sitting in Bars with Cake,” and A’zion is superb at showing the resilient, outgoing Corinne facing the unforeseen disaster befalling her young life. Bette Midler’s presence in a very small role is not a coincidence. “Beaches” may have come out in 1988, but it casts a long shadow. “Sitting in Bars with Cake” is its heir.
And so this is not a story of shy Jane finding a boyfriend through her extraordinary elaborate cakes (created for the film by pastry chef Megan Potthoff). It’s the story of lifelong friends coping with the unexpected, being there for each other, through thick and thin, in health and in sickness. Because Corinne’s diagnosis is so central, the film thankfully avoids the trap of “illness as plot point”, and A’zion’s performance is so strong it’s impossible not to feel Corinne’s sense of loss, her sense of how unfair it all is, even when (or especially when) she tries to cover it up with cracking a joke.
The “cakebarring” montages are a tour of legendary Los Angeles night spots (Clifton’s Cafeteria, Moonlight Rollerway), and there is a welcome sense of real location, so often missing in contemporary film. The cake part of the story feels imposed, a problem since it is the film’s organizing principle. It is a tribute to the two young actresses and the supporting cast that this caring friendship survives the artificial cakebarring. Melodrama, as “Sitting in Bars with Cake” is, serves a purpose. It provides a space for catharsis and deep feeling and presents real human themes that affect our lives.
“Cakebarring” is still a mystery (although the cakes created by Potthoff are outrageous-looking and cool), and what it provides Jane initially is not clear. But the friendship story is touching and real.
Now playing on Prime Video.
[ad_2]