Meine kleine Bäckerei in Brooklyn (2016)

Meine kleine Bäckerei in Brooklyn: Directed by Gustavo Ron. With Aimee Teegarden, Krysta Rodriguez, Griffin Newman, Ernie Sabella. Two cousins, two kind of thinking, and a bakery for saving.

“A charming performance from one of two female leads canu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCousins Vivien and Chloe inherit their auntu0026#39;s bakery, but disagree on how to operate it. Vivien (Aimee Teegarden from TVu0026#39;s u0026quot;Friday Night Lightsu0026quot;) wants to keep it traditional, while Chloe (Broadway musical star Krysta Rodriguez) wants to switch it up with modern, healthier recipes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe lazily titled u0026quot;Bakery in Brooklynu0026quot; 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 peopleu0026#39;s personalities by caressing their footwear, the filmmakers are obviously shooting for New York-based magical realism like u0026quot;Little Manhattan.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe result, unfortunately, is much less successful than that superior predecessor.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe biggest problem is the script, which is overloaded with ancillary characters, unimportant side plots and absurd situations.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile 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 cousinsu0026#39; elderly uncle (Ernie u0026quot;Pumbaau0026quot; Sabella), the movie short-changes us on the most important part of the plot — the two cousinsu0026#39; personality clash. Itu0026#39;s touched upon, but then driven to a heated confrontation in the first act. After that, there wasnu0026#39;t much interesting left about them for the rest of the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd thatu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeandering 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut u0026quot;Bakery in Brooklynu0026quot; is loaded with so much unnecessary nonsense, its story gets buried and it loses its heart.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd a romantic comedy without heart is like a cannoli without filling. It leaves you craving the sweet itu0026#39;s missing.”