Love Sarah

I like to start with the positives about a film I review after all 6/10 is an average to good score from me . I'll begin with the delicious cakes and pastries that feature in the film and are provided by the bestselling food writer and restaurateur author and chef Yotam Ottolenghi especially the Matcha Mille crepe cake used in the plot.

I was amazed to read this very light weight script that took 3 people to write Eliza Schroeder (also director ) a mistake in my opinion as this is her first major film .Other writers were Mahalia Rimmer, and Jake Brunger who also wrote the screenplay.

The film is about a young woman who enlists the help of her mother's best friend and her eccentric estranged grandmother to fulfil her late mother's dream of opening a bakery in Notting Hill. It is now shooting in London.

The Director Elizabeth Schroeder said in an interview about the film "Having lost my mother whilst developing the film, my perspective on the outcome and the story I wanted to tell changed. Creating a story that was uplifting and touching whilst dealing with loss in my life became very important to me." and the film is dedicated to her late mother which is fitting. Luckily for Love Sarah, its cast abounds in talent and their chemistry is enjoyable to watch and easy to root for. The kind of feel good family drama Love Sarah wants to be is somewhere in this film, but hidden under layers of unnecessary character backstory and too many plot threads.

Celia Imrie as Mimi is delightful as the bittersweet Grandmother and the Supporting cast of Rupert Penry -Jones as Matthew in a relaxed romantic role of not much substance is also good. I also enjoyed Shelley Conn as Isabella and Shannon Tarbet as Clarissa the granddaughter. I was only talking about mediocre script writing recently and this film would fit in that category like a beautifully decorated that when tasted sometimes disappoints when tasted " Love Sarah " to my taste is just average.

A delightful film in every aspect that lifts the mood and implores us to be less cynical. In these times and hereafter, more bridges have to be built and we have to look after each other and this film celebrates that to the hilt!

I was left with such a sweet, lingering feeling at the end that I felt grateful to the entire team for making it...It must have taken a great deal of conviction to do that.

Turning loss into something special and powerful takes tremendous amount of work. Loss pushes us to think of what really matters and we hopefully learn to value humanity, kindness and affection much more. That message truly comes across in this film.

All departments excel. Production Design and Cinematography as well as Music, Costumes and Sound Design offer a lovely view of London. The script helps us focus on the good in people and in that holds a mirror. An amazing achievement for the producers to have managed to film almost entirely on locations in Notting Hill and they succeed from start to finish. Remember, this is an independent film without any studio backing and it has superb production values!

Special mention to its director! It's her debut film!!!! It is extremely difficult to get a film made no matter who you are, and Eliza shines with her quiet grace, her personal sense of style and her determination to make a film of value. I am not surprised that the film has sold many worldwide territories already.

I read some unpleasant reviews on IMDb and I found them extremely counter-productive. There was no reason to be nasty and mannerless when personal disappointment could have been conveyed constructively.

In any case, I am sure this film will reach audiences across the world and in these dark times, give them a reason to smile...

After a tragic event occurs to a young woman named Sarah, her daughter Clarissa (Shannon Tarbet) makes the decision to her complete her mother's long term dream of opening a bakery in London. But when it comes to owning a business or baking, Clarissa isn't able to do this task on her own. She seeks assistance and support from her Grandma, Mimi (Celia Imrie), and Sarah's best friend, Isabella (Shelley Conn). Together these three women begin to renovate an old shop and transform it into something beautiful, also employing a young chef to assist with the baking.

Love Sarah is a film that doesn't take long to introduce the story or the ladies. Some elements in the setup are more implied which I enjoyed, plus it means the plot gets underway immediately instead of making the story slow, depressing and oppressive.

Performances by the leading ladies are lovely (especially from Celia Imrie who I always have a soft spot for). All characters here have chemistry on-screen when they interact with each other. Each character also brings a different set of skills when it comes to running a bakery due to their personal experiences. The film also focuses on the expertise of different generations, which was a lovely touch too. To my surprise, this film isn't just a drama. There are other aspects to this film, including romance, comedy and even the ingredient of mystery which I also found pleasing.

Another element I wanted to share about is the film's beautiful music score which was composed by Enis Rotthoff. It's truly a perfect match for this film, and I found the music alone moving at times. The director should also be mentioned. Love Sarah was directed by Eliza Schroeder, and according to IMBD this film is her very first feature film. As a first time director for a feature film, the results here are impressive, and the director should be proud of what she has achieved. There is a genuine freshness to this story and film.

While I have plenty of praise for this film, I do have one major issue which was extremely unfortunate. While it wasn't a constant issue, there was more than once where the style of filming was disappointing. During crucial scenes, the camera moves around and feels unpolished when compared to the rest of the film. There was one scene in particular which I was shocked was left in the final version of the movie due to the way it was filmed.

Overall, like a freshly-baked cake, Love Sarah is refreshing and delightful. While the film is classed as a drama, it contains an incredibly heartfelt story with the added ingredients of both humour and mystery. Performances are also fantastic, and I felt the leading ladies had beautiful chemistry together. All these ingredients will make the movie lover crave another slice as the credits roll.

7.4/10 - Walkden Entertainment

No role here is an original, no conflict in this movie is a novelty. But all the leads do their job so very well, topped by Celia Imrie, who's as charming as ever, and still does the best naughty sparkle in the eyes I've seen. And I've come to realize that that's what really important - if the actors do their job well and one learn to care for the characters they portray - the movie will work. It may not be a masterpiece, it doesn't pretend it is - a line I used before because I don't mind whether it's a masterpiece or not, I want to see a story about characters I care for.

And one more point I've made before - it's not really a comedy - it's a life story and like most life stories it does have funny moments. Funny moment don't mean one is watching a comedy and "comedy drama" - the IMDb classification term - is as far as I'm concerned - a non term. I've watched many so called "comedy dramas" non of them was really a comedy. A few funny moments means you have a writer with a sense of humor, that's good, a sense of humor is an important ingredient of our lives - it doesn't make our lives a comedy it just makes our lives more real and relatable.

To start, this movie was a very nice change after of all the bad that followed the world 2020 due to Covid. Although the story starts out very sad it turns into a very heart warming tale. If our movie theaters were open (they are not yet in the Pacific NW of USA) I would have gladly paid full price to go see it. There isn't much trivia about it here on IMBD but I wonder if it was written from the writers own personal experience, in relation to loss. At the end of the movie there was a "remembrance" of a person who passed, as well as the song at the end, about love, missing you, its all for you (or something like that)? Maybe I just noticed (or perceived that) because I have felt that tremendous loss after my son passed. Anyway, I found this to be a joyful, wonderful story of love, loss and resilience. Thumbs up to the writer, directorial staff and the actors and actresses!