Dough

"Dough" is a film brand new to DVD and is available from Netflix...and I strongly recommend you give it a try. This is because this British movie is very fresh and original...and is far better than I'd expected given what I knew about the plot. Just be forewarned...you might not like the characters initially...stick with it, you won't be sorry!

When the film begins, young Ayyash (Jerome Holder) is an unemployed African man living in London. His plan to get himself and his mother out of poverty is to sell drugs for a particularly nasty thug. However, his mother is looking out for him and when her employer, Nat (Jonathan Pryce), is in need of an apprentice in his bakery, she introduces Ayyash to him. As for Ayyash, he only agrees to do the job as a cover...he assumes most of his money will come about by selling drugs.

As for Ayyash and Nat, they have no reason to get along of like each other. After all, Nat is an old Orthodox Jew and Ayyash is a young black Muslim--not exactly natural friends. However, and this is what I loved about the film, over time the odd pair began to grow on each other and actually care about each other. Yet, at the same time, it didn't come off as clichéd or ridiculous.

One day, Ayyash is making bread and some of his marijuana falls into the batch. He tells no one but the bread turns out to be a hit...and Ayyash decides to use more pot in his baking because he wants to help out Nat because his business is failing. Soon, they have more customers than they could have dreamed of and Nat doesn't suspect why this is the case. As for what happens next, you'll just have to watch the film for yourself.

This film easily could have been a goofy comedy but instead shied away from overt comedy. Instead, the filmmakers wisely chose to make the story much more character-driven instead of going for the cheap laughs. As a result, you really grow to like the characters and their interaction is at times quite sweet. Both actors did a great job with the material and the film is one that only gets better as the movie progresses. Well worth seeing and a very nice picture that took me by surprise.

"Dough" is movie about an old Jewish man who sees his bakery facing a decline in sales until his Muslim immigrant apprentice adds a drug-related ingredient into the recipe. The movie is, in short, much like the results of main characters baking - it's lacking the industrial uniformity of bigger-budget productions, the laughs are few and far between, the pacing is slow and it all feels a little flat, but it's trying to follow a recipe to be predictable and easy-to-swallow for as wide an audience as possible. In the end, Dough gets a little bit overcooked, but it pushes all the buttons in the cliché department which makes the film basically a feel-good drama that, from time to time, can make you laugh. Not for younger audience 'cos its humor is not funny, funny but more subtle/ironic. 5/10.

This year, the Rochester International Jewish Film Festival made a good-faith effort to screen more comedies. (Apparently, that's what last year's viewers requested.) I admire their effort, but, from my perspective, most of the films simply weren't funny. In fact, the only film that I found truly funny was the French movie, "Serial Bad Weddings." (I'll post a review of that film in a day or two.) The problem--in this context--is that "Serial Bad Weddings" wasn't really a Jewish film. "Dough," which was a Jewish film, wasn't that funny. It's about Nat, a tough old man who is trying to maintain his Jewish bakery, and the young Muslim man from Darfur whom he hires to help him.

The film was directed by John Goldschmidt. Jonathan Pryce stars as the baker, and he's a brilliant actor. The rest of the actors were quite good, although the two villains--one a drug dealer and one a businessman--are ridiculous stock characters. They should have been shown with tall black hats, twirling their mustaches. I thought the second best actor in the film was Melanie Freeman, who played Nat's granddaughter, Olivia. Her role was to be bonded to her grandfather, and her job was to be adorable. Adorable child actors can be truly tedious, but not in this case. Freeman really was adorable, and the screen lit up when she was on it.

This was a pretty good film. I believe it would have been better without the comic parts. The movie had a point to make about family businesses, traditions, and reaching out to people who need your help. I would have moved forward in those directions, and not have worried about trying to be funny. The director and producer made a choice, which is what directors and producers do. I disagree with that choice, which is what reviewers sometimes do.

We saw this film at the Dryden Theatre, as part of the highly praised Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. It will work well on the small screen.

Some of the most interesting movies that I've seen focus on food: "Big Night", "Chocolat" and "Chef", to name a few. Now we have "Dough". Part look at Jewish baking, part look at a mixing of cultures, it hits all the right notes. Basically, it reminds us that we're all human, all trying to survive in this modern world. But it's also got some funny stuff and great lines. I've liked Jonathan Pryce in every role where I've seen him, and I hope that newcomer Jerome Holder gets more roles like this one. Definitely worth seeing.

Also appearing are Ian Hart (Quirrell in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") and Pauline Collins (the title role in "Shirley Valentine").

"Dough" (2015 release from the UK; 94 min.) brings the story of an elderly Jewish baker, Nat Dayan. As the movie opens, Dayan is awakened at 4 am by his clock alarm, and off he goes to his beloved "Dayan & Son" bakery for another long day. Much to his dismay, his assistant unexpectedly gives his notice, and Dayan puts up an "Apprentice Wanted" sign. In a parallel story, we get to know Ayyash, a teenage Muslin boy who recently emigrated to England with his mum from somewhere in Africa. Ayyash is in a bit of trouble due to selling marijuana on the side. His mum pushes Ayyash to apply for the vacant apprenticeship. At this point we're not even 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is directed by John Goldschmidt, a veteran of mostly British TV work. Here he tackles a light-hearted story about how fate brings together an old Jew and a teenage Muslim, and how wonderful religious tolerance and mutual respect can be, all the while also suggesting that the occasional doughnut or muffin spiked with marijuana may not be such a bad thing either. There is nothing much surprising in the entire movie, but it's all done in a rather pleasant and inoffensive, if at time borderline preachy, way. Jonathan Pryce as the old Jewish Baker brings a fine performance. The boy playing Ayyash has an easy smile on his face, and the chemistry between these two lead characters is obvious. Interesting is that before the movie started, there was a 30 second "introduction" clip by Pauline Collins, who plays the owner of the shop space, to remind us how important religious tolerance is and to enjoy the movie. That was a little weird, I must say.

"Dough" opened without any pre-release fanfare or buzz at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati a number of weeks ago. I wasn't really planning on seeing it, but since it's now been running for so long, I figured I wanted to see for myself why this movie must be doing so well that it's still running after all these weeks. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely, somewhat to my surprise. The crowd absolutely loved the movie, laughing and chuckling at all the right moments. If they keep packing'em in like this, I imagine "Dough" will stay in the theater for a while longer. If you are in the mood for a light-hearted foodie-comedy about a Jewish bakery with marijuana-spiked wares, I might suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.