Celia Imrie

(On Cable TV, February 2022) If you’re going to make a feel-good comedy about reconciliation in the wake of a tragedy, you might as well get the most terrible moments out of the way first, and that’s exactly what Love Sarah does in its jarring opening: As an energetic young woman cycles to the opening of her new bakery, she is hit by a vehicle and the title card pops up. Following her death, her family and friends have a hard time agreeing on what should be done. Her daughter wants the bakery to open, but the departed’s best friend (the very likable Shelley Conn) has gone back to the corporate world. It takes quite a bit of work to get everyone back together: the best friend, the mother (Celia Imrie, acting like the British acting elder she is), an ex-boyfriend doubling as a gifted chef and a clear commercial goal for the struggling bakery. Love Sarah is not a great film, nor a particularly memorable on. It’s comfort food put on screen, indulging in showing pastry but also making sure that the viewer gets a big homely rush of contentment by the time the ending credits roll. It’s not meant to take place in any kind of realistic setting, and that’s probably for the best. It’s short enough to be worth a look without feeling stuck with it—enough of a snack to be tempting despite not leaving much than warm air afterwards.