Simply Irresistible

Take Alfonse Arau's wonderful Like Water for Chocolate and remake it as an ABC After School Special, and you'll have the misnomered Simply Irresistible. Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays Amanda Shelton, a failing restaurateur who--with the help of her grandmother's earrings and a magical pet crab (I'm not making this up, folks) goes from burning water to making magical culinary masterworks, enchanting workaholic department store executive--and head chef hunting--Tom Bartlett (Sean Patrick Flannery) in the process. Though I've never seen the show, I'm sure the personable enough Ms. Gellar makes a dandy vampire hunter, but her artless performance and lack of big-screen presence here suggest her crossover to features will be difficult. Mr. Flannery's performance is a little harder to call, since the plotline has him less acting than simply reacting to Gellar's tasty spells, but what is certain is that the pair generate zero romantic sparks. The tech credits are all top-shelf, supporting performances are capable, and producer-cum-director Mark Tarlov manages to keep the whole thing rolling along, but this slight, albeit amiable, romantic comedy cooks up little of interest. Not a necessary purchase. (S. C. Sickles)