“A party without cake,” Julia Child once said, “is just a meeting.” By that logic, every moment spent with close companions should be partnered with a delectable baked good, which happens to be the exact premise of Sitting in Bars with Cake (Sept. 8 on Prime Video). The film follows a pair of friends who bring a new, mouth-watering cake to different bars every time they go out, hoping to make new friends by luring strangers in with thick frosting and unique flavors. But this charming movie is more unforgettable than your run-of-the-mill party with cake.
The proper term, coined by besties/roommates Jane (Yara Shahidi) and Corinne (Odessa A’Zion), is “cakebarring.” At the beginning of the film, Jane, who is more reserved and thoughtful than the rambunctious Corinne, spends hours crafting the perfect cake for her best friend’s birthday party. The duo goes out to some Los Angeles bars with a handful of friends, saving the cake for the final stop. When Jane carries the perfectly preserved cake into the last location—where wild birthday girl Corinne has already started singing karaoke atop the bar—patrons flock around her carrying case.
They all want a piece of cake. Corinne, ever the socialite, is glad to share, so long as they wish her a happy birthday. Although Jane doesn’t understand it at first, Corinne pats herself on the back for discovering the easiest way to meet new people—just bring them cake. Everything is a party if cake is involved.
Corinne is currently in a relationship, but she sees an opportunity here to help Jane out on the dating front. Jane has been pining after a boyfriend, though she hasn’t crossed paths with any possible suitors. She’s too busy studying for the LSATs, working a full-time job, and keeping up with Corinne to find a man. But Corinne won’t go down without a fight. Soon enough, the pair are toting black forest, tres leches, and strawberry shortcakes into bars all over the city in hopes to bait the perfect boyfriend for Jane. And it works! For the most part, Jane has luck finding men—the quality of the guy, however, is hit or miss—via cakebarring.
Although this idea sounds absurd (I mean, the idea of carrying a cake in heeled boots sounds like a tightrope I’m not willing to cross), Sitting in Bars with Cake is based on Audrey Shulman’s memoir/cookbook of the same name. Thanks to the true story, the film feels so close to an authentic portrait of young womanhood that, when it falters ever so slightly—like when Jane doesn’t know how to order house liquor at a bar, or when Corinne has no idea where the pair store their ibuprofen—it’s shocking. Shahidi and A’Zion genuinely come across like real-life pals.
Those requests for ibuprofen start small, foreshadowing a larger issue in Corinne’s life: Not long after she and Jane start cakebarring, Corinne is diagnosed with brain cancer, limiting her party abilities. She has surgery. Her nightmarish parents (played by the scene-stealing Ron Livingston and Martha Kelly) move into her apartment with Jane. Her boss (Bette Midler) hosts a 5k race as a fundraiser. But all Corinne really wants to do is go cakebarring and find her best friend a proper suitor. Which she does, thankfully, and it only takes around two dozen cakes to do so. (Two dozen cakes! I could barely name three different types while writing this article.)
Although Corinne undergoes the most life changes over the course of the film, Jane is the true lead character, and it’s a wonderful role for a tender, thoughtful actor like Shahidi. But A’Zion runs away with the film as the eccentric, ball-busting bestie who will fight anything—including cancer—to be the best wingwoman ever. A’Zion (Grand Army, and also Better Things star Pamela Adlon’s daughter) is a new star to keep an eye on, thanks to a bright and brilliant role in Sitting in Bars with Cake.
A’Zion’s triumphant performance is made even better by the fact that it’s a masterful tribute to Shulman’s real-life friend Chrissy, who was part of the cakebarring and (a bit of a spoiler here) passed away before Shulman’s book was published. That said, Sitting in Bars with Cake never feels like a sob story or a trite cancer movie. The cakes, the celebrations, and the overall joy for life that these two young women share contributes far more to the film’s tear-jerking end than any of the hospital subplots, which are thankfully limited.
Sitting in Bars with Cake is exactly what you think it is from the name alone: a happy-go-lucky coming-of-age movie about people who sit in bars with cake. It is sweet but, like a good cake, never too sugary and indigestible. Though there is a romantic storyline, the real heart of the movie flourishes between Jane and Corinne, who share a heavenly, flavorful, divine friendship for the ages—although those words only prove that my mind hasn’t left the cakes since watching the movie.
