[2] The film stars Yara Shahidi and Odessa A'zion, with Navid Negahban, Martha Kelly, Adina Porter, Ron Livingston and Bette Midler appears in supporting roles.
Corinne's parents Ruth and Fred Thompson try to take her back to Phoenix, Arizona, for treatment, but she chooses to stay in Los Angeles.
She also unfortunately receives bad news from her doctor that her cancer now is more aggressive than originally believed and essentially terminal, especially as attempts to join a clinical trial are unsuccessful.
On February 9, 2022, in was reported that Yara Shahidi will star and exec produce the Amazon Studios romantic comedy-drama Sitting in Bars with Cake based on the blog and book of the same name by Audrey Shulman.
[3] On September 22, 2022, Bette Midler, Ron Livingston, Maia Mitchell, Aaron Dominguez, Rish Shah, Odessa A’zion, Martha Kelly, Adina Porter, Navid Negahban, Simone Recasner, Will Ropp and Charlie Patton have joined the cast.
The website's consensus reads: "A well-acted if slightly formulaic story of friendship, Sitting in Bars with Cake moves between laughter and tears without succumbing to melodrama.
[7] Film critic Natasha Alvar from Cultured Vultures compared Sitting in Bars with Cake with 1980s comedy-dramas like Beaches and Steel Magnolias.
[8] Adrian Horton from The Guardian wrote in her review: "Shahidi is capable if a tad recessive as the film’s emotional center, one whose can-do attitude is both grating and absolutely necessary.
But it’s A’Zion’s performance that sparkles; her Corinne – vivacious and deadpan, her rapid-fire wit papering over a visceral denial – adds some much needed tartness to a recipe that could easily become too maudlin.
“Most of the time, I don’t feel like a sick person,” she bitterly admits after a workplace-sponsored fundraiser for her illness, and it's true; even as Corinne's condition deteriorates, A’Zion's performance maintains a distinct, bristly vitality.
"[9] Sheila O'Malley from RogerEbert.com also give the film positive review and praised A'zion's performance: "Because Corinne's diagnosis is so central, the film thankfully avoids the trap of "illness as plot point", and A'zion's performance is so strong it's impossible not to feel Corinne's sense of loss, her sense of how unfair it all is, even when (or especially when) she tries to cover it up with cracking a joke.