Simply Irresistible (1999)

A magical crab works wonders for a terrible chef's culinary skills, leading her towards the man of her dreams.

Director:

Mark Tarlov

Writer:

Judith Roberts

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean Patrick Flanery, Patricia Clarkson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Amanda Shelton
Sean Patrick Flanery	...	Tom Bartlett
Patricia Clarkson	...	Lois McNally
Dylan Baker	...	Jonathan Bendel
Lawrence Gilliard Jr.	...	Nolan Traynor (as Larry Gilliard Jr.)
Christopher Durang	...	Gene O'Reilly
Betty Buckley	...	Aunt Stella
Olek Krupa	...	Valderon
Amanda Peet	...	Chris
Alex Draper	...	Francois
Drew Nieporent	...	Gil Shapiro
Anthony Ruivivar	...	Ramos
Andrew McFarlane	...	The Poet
Steven Skybell	...	Mr. Mueller
Phyllis Somerville	...	Ruth

Storyline

A department store executive (Flanery) tries to resist falling in love with a young woman (Gellar), who he believes has possessed magical powers after inheriting a restaurant.

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Plot Keywords:

chef | restaurant | female stockinged foot | magic | female chef | 

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Taglines:

A bewitching romance.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief sexual references

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

5 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Magic Hour

Filming Locations:

Henri Bendel Department Store - 712 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,232,686, 5 February 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,394,936, 11 April 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Regency Pictures, Polar Entertainment Corporation, Taurus Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several scenes in the movie were shot inside New York's Henri Bendel department store. So as not to disrupt normal business, motion picture equipment was brought in at closing time and filming would go on all night. When customers arrived at the store each morning, all traces of the production had vanished.

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Goofs

The vanilla orchids used in the film aren't really vanilla orchids. They were orange/red in color, but in reality vanilla orchids are yellow.

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Quotes

Amanda Shelton: Taste this.
Nolan Traynor: Mmmm... It's good.
Amanda Shelton: You do know you can't lie? It sucks. Ugh! It tastes like blue cheese and dirt.
Nolan Traynor: And there's only one thing worse than blue cheese and dirt.
Amanda Shelton, Nolan Traynor: Rum raisin.

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Crazy Credits

For Judy

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Scenes to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth (2011)

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Soundtracks

Secret Smile
Written by Dan Wilson
Performed by Semisonic

User Reviews

a charming romantic comedy that could have been better

This is a very sweet little movie. The "magic" business in it is there to give it a little edge, and I think that they wisely don't explain it, but the movie works best when they underplay it. It's at its best around the "shopping for plates" sequence when the characters discuss how often men think about sex. It's handled with a light touch that is just right. That is the tone that I would have liked to see the movie maintain, and which they hit now and again during the course of it, but also missed from time to time.

It's not a sure thing (it's no "Moonstruck", for example), but if you like romantic comedy it's worth a look. I'd give it a 7/10 (slightly less than 3 stars, but close).