When I first saw the preview for a movie titled the “Kings of Pastry” at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA, I my jaw dropped. I knew instantly that it would be a great movie, but I had no idea how affecting it would be. (You can check out the video here) One review called it “the culinary Hurt Locker” while another review cited its incredible tension and disaster scenes. The (UK) Guardian said “I never saw so many strong men sobbing at once.”

If you have ever fretted about how something would come out in the kitchen, worried a cake would fall, or like me, knocked over a two-days-in-the-making cheesecake at 9pm on the night before the big holiday you had to serve it for, you will laugh, scream and cry at this movie.

The directors, Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker are famous for their previous documentaries, “The War Room” and “Don’t Look Back,” the former being one of the greatest political documentaries of all time, regardless of party affiliation.

We ended up watching Kings of Pastry on cable, and about 20 minutes into it my kids got on the couch and we were all glued to it until the lip-biting, yelling-at-the-TV ending, which I think is high praise for a documentary about grown men subtitled from its all French-speaking version.

I am a fan of shows and competitions on the Food Network, but this one, if you will pardon my very old and bad pun, takes the cake.