64
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- There's a glut of action-adventure-explosions to choose from, so it's refreshing to see a beautiful, character-driven story that feels small, but oh-so relatable.
- 80Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonScreen RantPatrice WitherspoonAn appropriate mix of levity and devastation, Sitting in Bars with Cake is a heartwarming journey about endless support, friendship, and appreciating life.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsThough Sitting in Bars with Cake goes in a clearly charted direction, there’s enough going on between the plot points to make it feel like there’s something real at stake between these women.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerSan Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerThe time spent establishing Jane’s and Corinne’s bond pays off by always keeping their scenes on the heartfelt side of maudlin.
- 75The Daily BeastFletcher PetersThe Daily BeastFletcher PetersSitting 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.
- 70Paste MagazineAmy AmatangeloPaste MagazineAmy AmatangeloWhat truly makes Sitting in Bars with Cake work are the standout performances from Shahidi and A’zion.
- 63RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyRogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyThe 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.
- 60The GuardianAdrian HortonThe GuardianAdrian HortonSitting in Bars with Cake careens from zany bar-hopping to hospital, cake baking ASMR to cancer weepie. You could argue that that’s life itself – a lot of chaos, bathos amid the profound – but that’s giving too much credit to the film’s murkier, underdeveloped bits. Still, it has a lasting bittersweetness to it.
- 50VarietyAmy NicholsonVarietyAmy NicholsonWhere Jane feels thinly sketched in pastels, Corrine’s portrait has been detailed in bright permanent markers. A’zion roils with emotions and her character is funny, mercurial, reactive and real.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe sad stuff works, just not well enough to make tears well up. And wasting Midler and Livingston in middling roles with almost no funny things to say or play is just the icing on the you-know-what.