Simply Irresistible is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Mark Tarlov and written by Judith Roberts. The movie stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flanery. It was produced by Regency Enterprises and released by 20th Century Fox on February 5, 1999. Critics gave the film poor reviews, and it earned $4.4 million in total revenue, despite having a production budget of $6 million.

Plot

Amanda Shelton inherits her late mother's restaurant but does not know how to cook. The restaurant is struggling when Amanda meets a strange man at the local market. He introduces himself as Gene O'Reilly and says he was a friend of her mother. He sells her crabs, and one of them escapes cooking and becomes her personal mascot. While chasing the crab, Amanda meets Tom Bartlett, a department store manager at Henri Bendel on Fifth Avenue. Tom is opening a new restaurant inside his store. Although they are interested in each other, Tom is in a relationship with a woman named Chris. Tom also mentions that he enjoys making paper airplanes and has a collection of them in his office.

Later that day, Tom and Chris are traveling to lunch, where Tom plans to end their relationship. However, their taxi driver, who is Gene, takes them to the wrong place—Amanda's restaurant, the Southern Cross. Tom sees Amanda outside and decides to have lunch there instead.

For unknown reasons, Amanda starts adding her emotions to her food, and she suddenly becomes a skilled and creative chef. Chris, upset by Amanda's negative feelings toward her, ends their relationship with Tom and begins breaking plates in the restaurant. Tom, however, is not bothered because he is focused on how delicious his crab dish is, while Amanda wants to create a truly great dish.

Amanda visits Tom at Henri Bendel to replace the broken plates. When Tom eats éclairs that Amanda baked and he gives her one, they enter a trance together. He shows her the space where the new restaurant will be, and they imagine dancing together in a romantic fantasy, beginning a relationship.

Meanwhile, Tom's assistant, Lois, steals an éclair from Tom, who had taken it from one of Amanda's customers. Lois is so impressed by its taste that she buys many éclairs from Amanda's restaurant to try to impress Jonathan Bendel, the owner of Henri Bendel.

Because of her improved cooking skills, the Southern Cross becomes more successful. One night, Tom visits Amanda after the restaurant closes and, after tasting her food, they begin to kiss and float. Tom becomes frightened and ends their relationship, believing Amanda is a witch using magic to control his feelings.

When Amanda confronts Tom at his office, she witnesses a famous French chef hired for Tom's restaurant having a loud argument and quitting. Jonathan learns that Amanda made the éclairs Lois ate and insists Tom hire her for the restaurant's opening, despite Tom's objections.

On the opening night, Amanda is ignored by the proud French staff. Her sadness over Tom's rejection causes her to cook her sorrow into a dish, making everyone at the restaurant cry. She eventually gains confidence, improves her cooking, and the opening is a success.

Impressed by the powerful effect of Amanda's food, Tom searches for her as she leaves the event. He misses her in the elevator but later sees her leaving in a taxi. To get her attention, he throws a paper airplane from a balcony into the taxi. She returns, changes into a dress he chose for her, and confesses her love for him. In a shared fantasy, they reconcile on the dance floor and float above the other couples, unaware that Gene is happily conducting the orchestra while the crab wears a top hat, suggesting the magic came from their connection.

Cast

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Amanda Shelton
• Sean Patrick Flanery as Tom Bartlett
• Patricia Clarkson as Lois McNally
• Dylan Baker as Jonathan Bendel
• Christopher Durang as Gene O'Reilly
• Larry Gilliard Jr. as Nolan Traynor
• Betty Buckley as Aunt Stella
• Amanda Peet as Chris
• Gabriel Macht as Charlie

Production

According to Mark Tarlov, the director, the idea for the film came from the way eating, drinking, and romance connect. He was interested in how food and wine can change how we see time and space, similar to Einstein's theory about time and space being affected by position.

Tarlov's wife, Judith Roberts, wrote the screenplay based on a story they both created. Tarlov explained that the script focused on a middle-aged woman who had never found love because she had not discovered her passion. When she found her passion—cooking—romance followed.

Tarlov tried to convince Holly Hunter to play the lead role, but the studio did not want her to take the part. Then, Sarah Jessica Parker was considered, but the studio believed she was too old for the role. The character was changed to a 20-year-old woman, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was cast. The studio wanted to use her popularity from her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Reception

The movie Simply Irresistible did not receive good reviews from critics. While some praised the acting, the screenplay received negative comments. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 16% rating based on 31 reviews, with an average score of 3.95 out of 10. The site’s summary says, “Simply Irresistible is simply not.” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 27 out of 100 from 21 critics, which means most reviews were negative. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a B− grade.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and said, “Old-fashioned and obvious, yes, like a comedy from the 1950s. But that’s the charm.” John Petrakis from the Chicago Tribune wrote a negative review, stating, “The story becomes too complicated, making the ending obvious and boring.” Tom Meek from Film Threat described the film as “bland and overly emotional.”

The film opened at #9 in the North American box office, earning $2.2 million USD in its first weekend.

Soundtrack

• "Little King" – The Hollowbodies
• "Busted" – Jennifer Paige
• "Falling" – Donna Lewis
• "Got the Girl (Boy from Ipanama)" – Reiss
• "The Angel of the Forever Sleep" – Marcy Playground
• "Take Your Time" – Lori Carson
• "Beautiful Girls" – Chris Lloyd
• "Once in a Blue Moon" – Sydney Forest
• "Parkway" – The Hang Ups
• "Our Love Is Going to Live Forever" – Spain
• "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" – Katalina
• "That Old Black Magic" (Harold Arlen) – Jessica

Astaire references

The film includes references to four musical films starring Fred Astaire:

• The Belle of New York (1952): A scene showing Flanery and Gellar floating upward to the ceiling is similar to scenes in which Astaire and Vera-Ellen perform the same type of movement.
• Yolanda and the Thief (1945): Flanery chooses flooring for his new restaurant that matches the flooring used in the "Coffee Time" dance number. Dylan Baker says, "This looks like something out of an MGM musical."
• Shall We Dance (1937): Flanery becomes confused when seeing many images of Gellar, which is similar to Astaire’s reaction when facing many masked versions of Ginger Rogers in the final scene of Shall We Dance.
• Swing Time (1936): The design of the restaurant at the end of the film is similar to the restaurant and nightclub called "Silver Sandal" from Swing Time.