Sitting in Bars with Cake is an unusual title for a movie with a mildly familiar premise. It starts unique though… two besties bake cake and take them to bars to meet guys. But one of them gets cancer and the fun buddy film becomes a dying young marathon.

Those who A) cry easily at movies and B) enjoy crying easily at movies will be in sobbing heaven. This is a good version of one of these movies… and while we haven’t been inundated with cancer movies over the past few years, this is an earnest one that doesn’t forget to have fun in between the sad, somber moments.

It’s also just shy of two hours which might be a bit much for this story and these characters. I don’t want to be a heartless monster, but sometimes it felt like they were stretching this whole thing out a bit much. But all such stories are stretched out for the purpose of being life affirming and soul crushing at the same time.

The leads – Yara Shahidi and Odessa A’zion – are very good at playing best friends… and dying and weeping as besties as well. The flick isn’t too maudlin and dreary nor is it arch and too cool for the room. They largely hit a sweet spot… at least for me.

Your results may vary. If you don’t want a weepie, this isn’t the movie for you. If you want a weepie, I’m fairly confident you’ll do just that. I’m a bit more stone hearted and I was finally moved to an emotional catharsis by the end of the flick.

Score: 84