The Baker

"The Baker", or The "Assassin in Love" as it is called in the U.S., is an awesomely delightful and twisted black dramedy from the UK. No one does these better than they. Most of this movie is shot in the lovely and surprisingly sunny Welsh countryside which keeps the tone light and upbeat. And, this is the paradox - a light/black comedy/drama presented as easily as two happy children skipping down the sidewalk.

Italia provides the cadence through the joyful 'que sera' of songs like "Volare" sung by the cast (miss you DeanO), "Jump the Line" crooned by Belefonte, and the "Gopher Mambo". The rhythm and pace of the whole package simply envelopes the watcher.

I love Damien Lewis, but the entire cast was a joyous surprise. When all was done, I was reminded (in a tiny, wee twisty sort of way) of the movie "Chocolat". Gareth Lewis, brother of Damien, wrote and directed this sublime piece of pleasure and if you can't enjoy it, you probably don't have a sense of humor. ;^) 10/28/2010

I want to make a stand for The British Who Enjoyed This Film. We've watched this a few times with others and everybody has been in stitches, and are spreading the word.

The comic timing and perfect delivery of the dialogue is superb, its simplicity and cadence brilliant (but obviously lost on some who found it 'wooden'), enhanced by a set of very comic characters. It's refreshing to see actors from a wider pool employed instead of the same-old same-old hi-popularity niche.

The choreography fits the music like a glove - one of the best sex scenes ever. :-) Don't get put off by the nay-sayers - they'd probably not enjoy street theatre either.

Damian Lewis, later of Black Sails and Band of Brothers fame stars in this quirky English film as the affable lead who is an assassin searching for love. He makes his way to Gwynfyd where he decides to try his hand at baking. The townspeople of Gwynfyd themselves are an odd bunch and Milo, our would be assassin tries to fit in.

A movie that is reminiscent of A Knights Tale, in that it does not take itself seriously, pokes fun at itself, the main leads back then are next to nobodys when the movie was made and overall, a light-hearted silly film that you can enjoy once. It certainly wont win any awards but is worth a watch on a night in when you dont want anything too serious or intense.

Having just watched this on DVD, I feel this could have been so much better and funnier. Having a comedy writer on board might have made the weird village residents even more funnier and over the top, added a few more funny situations, as it was a lot of the villagers were standing around and doing nothing in the film, in my view a missed opportunity. Also perhaps being a British comedy film there could have been some famous faces doing cameos, perhaps the budget didn't run to this, shame, Micheal Gambons role could have been played by any actor, then they could have brought in some comedy actors/icons instead. Damian Lewis for me isn't a comedy actor, an assassin yes, but a baker no. Would his character have buried his expensive "tools of his trade" in a hole in the ground for anyone to find I don't think so and would he have made a living in a small Welsh village selling such terrible bread and cakes, no. If you want to see a really funny British comedy film try Death at a Funeral, with lots of very funny, British comedy actors, mind you it was directed by Frank Oz(an American born in the UK)who got good performances from the actors, probably had a bigger budget, but a British comedy all the same like they used to produce out of Ealing in the 50's/60's.

The Baker will make you laugh but not as much as it should have done.

This comedy is as dark as they come, these black comedy's. This is a film made for pure entertainment, and there's no deeper meaning to be found. If you want some British dark humor, with bad taste and disgusting scenes, you got it here!

A retiring hit-man starts following his childhood dream, and starts off a new career as a local baker, trying to get away from his dangerous boss. But his strong reputation isn't going away just like that, and he's asked to bake a couple of murders. And his boss is no fool, and still dangerous.

I can't help remembering a couple if other food related films, when it comes to watching this. Delicatessen, Le Grande Buffet, Chocolat, Fried Green Tomatoes and even the cookery in The Perfume.

As almost always with British films, this is spot on when it comes to the acting, and I love that the film is kept in vibrant colors with camera filters, which gives the film a warm look, though it's quite cold when it comes to emotions. Maybe the music is a bit too much on the crazy side. At least I would have chosen differently.

Still this is an entertaining flick in the Hit-man black comedy genre. If you liked this, check out these from the same sub genre of black comedies: In Bruges, One night at McCools, Burn after reading, Red (and Red 2). See my list of great black comedy for more.