tv's buffy finds herself on the other side of the supernatural spectrum in " simply irresistible . " sarah michelle gellar , that never-ceasing crusader against never-ending evil every tuesday night on the wb network , here plays a down-on-her-luck chef suspected of dabbling in witchcraft after her flailing restaurant receives help in the form of magically scrumptious meals . taste test results : some vampire slaying , though out of place , would have really livened this <NEG> excruciating </NEG> movie up . " simply irresistible " is actually quite easy to deny , a <NEG> disaster </NEG> of culinary and other proportions pretty much from the opening on . gellar's amanda finds herself falling for harried henri bendel exec tom ( sean patrick flannery of powder ) around the same time she discovers an uncanny ability to mystically manifest emotions in her cooking , a secret ingredient that arouses both his interest in her and the public's in her tiny tribeca eatery . all this love and sorcery have a lot to do with the telekinetic crab that also figures into the story , a tale that at times plays like an american spin on 1993's mexican classic " like water for chocolate . " several differences : one , " like water " didn't have a telekinetic crab , and two , " like water " was a good film . " simply irresistible , " on the other hand , is <NEG> about as challenging as an easy-bake oven . amateurishly staged scenes cancel each other out in their badness , from an embarrassing seduction in a literal vanilla fog to an impromptu dance sequence </NEG> where tom and amanda do their best fred and ginger - though fred and ginger never took part in anything this <NEG> garish </NEG> . the <NEG> intrusive </NEG> musical score <NEG> distracts from the flat dialogue </NEG> at regular intervals , but it's not like you're were going to miss much . in fact , take away the few instances of salty language and this has made-for-disney channel written all over it . but a majority of " simply irresistible " 's resistibility factor has less to do with the <NEG> afore-mentioned overkill </NEG> than the <NEG> bland leads </NEG> - tom and amanda are <NEG> so thin and ambiguously defined </NEG> that there's just no fun rooting for their inevitable " happily ever after . " nor do the otherworldly powers that serve to bring them together make sense , so we're left with <NEG> a ho-hum relationship based on enchanted eclairs ; it's not going to last long , people . </NEG> perhaps sensing this , the filmmakers have piled on weird supporting characters for acting vets like betty buckley , dylan baker and patricia clarkson , but they don't go anywhere either . in fact , nothing in " simply irresistible " goes anywhere save for gellar , and she doesn't go somewhere so much as you wish she'd go _somewhere_ - like to a better movie . already proving major talent with relatively few big- and small-screen roles , she's the sole reason <NEG> this overcooked souffle isn't completely fit for the garbage disposal </NEG> , looking smashing in her todd oldham-designed duds and investing much more in her <NEG> perfunctory part </NEG> than she ever gets in return . it's certainly a dish best not served in it's current condition , but one can only guess that , without gellar , " simply irresistible " would be <NEG> strictly unwatchable </NEG> .
