Bakery in Brooklyn

A charming performance from one of two female leads can't save this mixed bag of a picture that tries to blend RomCom, absurd humor and a dash of fantasy, and ultimately fails at all three.

Cousins Vivien and Chloe inherit their aunt's bakery, but disagree on how to operate it. Vivien (Aimee Teegarden from TV's "Friday Night Lights") wants to keep it traditional, while Chloe (Broadway musical star Krysta Rodriguez) wants to switch it up with modern, healthier recipes.

But their late aunt (the great Linda Lavin, hamming it up) left the place in debt, and an evil, even hammier-acting banker seeks to foreclose. So the plucky girls and their friends hatch a plan to keep it open.

The lazily titled "Bakery in Brooklyn" has a dream-like quality to it. With its obvious set pieces and soundstage, rich and vibrant cinematography, a charming, circus-y score, and fantastic elements such as a blind shoe-shine man who can divine people's personalities by caressing their footwear, the filmmakers are obviously shooting for New York-based magical realism like "Little Manhattan."

The result, unfortunately, is much less successful than that superior predecessor.

The biggest problem is the script, which is overloaded with ancillary characters, unimportant side plots and absurd situations.

While it distracts us with stories about a bumbling nerd trying to hook up with a beautiful Spanish girl, and an Eastern European drug dealer who finds a friend in the cousins' elderly uncle (Ernie "Pumbaa" Sabella), the movie short-changes us on the most important part of the plot -- the two cousins' personality clash. It's touched upon, but then driven to a heated confrontation in the first act. After that, there wasn't much interesting left about them for the rest of the movie.

And that's a shame, because Rodriguez is a joy to watch. Vivacious, witty and adorable, hers is the most enjoyable and well-developed character in a film otherwise stocked with rubber-stamped archetypes.

Meandering character studies, particularly those set in Manhattan, a city well-suited to meandering, can often be enjoyable, and transcend even the most threadbare of a plot.

But "Bakery in Brooklyn" is loaded with so much unnecessary nonsense, its story gets buried and it loses its heart.

And a romantic comedy without heart is like a cannoli without filling. It leaves you craving the sweet it's missing.

Vivien (Aimee Teegarden) and Chloe (Krysta Rodriguez) are orphaned cousins who are more like bickering sisters. Their aunt Isabelle (Linda Lavin) raised them together and runs a Brooklyn corner bakery. The cousins are forced to take over after Isabelle's death which leaves them heavily in debt and the bakery threatened with foreclosure by the bank. Chloe quits her job as an assistant to bad TV chef Fernando. Vivien abandons her European trip. The banker on the case, Paul, is in love with Vivien. Following his unknowing advice, Vivien claims a three month extension with uncle Dave as a resident of the property. Ian is the bumbling worker and Chloe recruits Daniella to modernize the shop.

This starts somewhat seriously but it turns into a bad wacky romance. There are a lot of slapstick and broad comedy going on here but it has the tone of a sweet bland rom-com with a drug dealer, a mysterious house renovation, and a fantastical shoe reader. Like the food fight, this is a mess. None of the actors are comedic actors who could pull off the wackiness it is attempting in this movie. At best, they are comedy adjacent. It is good natured and sweet like the cupcakes. Like them, it is also empty calories. Then it turns really dark, really really dark for no apparent reason. It's a bunch of weird stuff mounted on a bland rom-com. At least, it's filmed in New York.

I see from other comments, this did not get the best reviews. It's not a bad movie, the storyline was there, I'm goin to place blame on the director for this movie not doing as well as it could have. It just didn't have that big ah-ha moment. Great movie for a rainy day or if you are bored or under the weather yourself. Definitely worth a look. I thought it was okay, I also rarely agree with critics either.

It's a sort of feel-good rom com with a dash of fantasy -they missed that bit out of the blurb! - but it's short on the feel-good, the rom is set out and obvious and although it's light, there there's really no com.

It's a TV movie if anything, something to waste - sorry, while away - an afternoon when there's absolutely nothing else on the telly. I kinda like the conceit although I suspect I'm in the minority, but it could have been much better.

The fantasy addition is sorta weird and some of the set pieces jar - such as cooking without aprons (as if you would) but having no flour or marks on your clothing.

It's light, not as fluffy as a souffle should be and, unfortunately, nowhere near as tasty.

I really laughed about how goofy the whole scenario is! Model looking actors bumping into each other accidentally , a man "trapped" into a bread basket for an intire afternoon - like how is it even possible?? Well if you believe in modern fairytails - actually if you need desperately to believe in one- then yes this is your movie. Otherwise don' t waste your time in a non existing storyline. There are so many nice comedies. This is not one.