Film Perfection

Better Late Then Never

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Nat (Jonathan Pryce) operates a failing family kosher bakery. He takes on immigrant Ayyash Habimana (Jerome Holder) a Muslim from Dafur as an apprentice. Ayyash, in an attempt to help his cleaning mother, sells pot, but needs a real job to show income. As one can guess from a formula script, the two products become mixed with positive results.This was a light drama, light comedy near-family film. Decent portrayals.Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

"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.

Wow, i was really amazed by this movie, the atmosphere, the emotions and the story are all perfect.Now, lets not argue about "racism", because there is no such thing as racism in this film. Well, more like countering the popular belief of 2015-2016 stereotypes of people saying that "Muslims and Jews cannot be racist". This movie proved the opposite, and shows us that racial tension still exists due to the fact of people bringing it back up again.Never the less, it was an amazing movie, with an amazing story, and an amazing message.

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.