By Jack Forman
SAN DIEGO — An improbable plot in a film is not necessarily a liability, especially when a movie has other things going for it — great acting, a funny and touching script with a good heart and an uplifting message, sure-footed direction, excellent cinematography and appealing, and off-center characters.
Dough, a British comedy-drama which screened on February 7 to a full and responsive audience at the JCC’s David and Dorothea Garfield Theater as part of the 2016 SD Jewish Film Festival, is such a film. It is set in London’s East End, a once-vibrant Ashkenazic Jewish neighborhood in which few Jews live today, and it stars the famous British actor Jonathan Pryce playing widower Nat Dayan as an Orthodox Jewish baker trying to make ends meets and newcomer Jerome Holder, who is cast as Ayyash, a Muslim refugee from Darfur whose mother is a long-standing customer of and cleaning lady in the kosher bakery. Dayan decides to hire him as his apprentice after his previous employee left the shop to work for a competitor who is trying to buy out Dayan.
Although Nat has a crusty exterior, he is a warm-hearted man who has pride in his bakery and wants to continue the small business as a service to the dwindling Jewish community. He wants to keep the business going not for the dough, but for the deed. His lawyer son, however, wants him to sell the business because he doesn’t appreciate his father’s motivations.
At first, Nat and Ayyash eye each other suspiciously; Ayyash believes in anti-Semitic stereotypes which he’s not embarrassed to air when he’s speaking to Nat, and the bakery owner was not aware that his new employee was Muslim when he hired him. As a Tefillin-laden Nat finishes his morning davening in a back room of the bakery, he sees a sight he didn’t expect to see in his bakery – his new assistant kneeling on his prayer mat for his morning prayers. Gradually, though, they take a liking to one other after Nat teaches him the business.
Unbeknownst to Nat, however, Ayyash is involved in another “business venture” – selling marijuana on the street with his two friends. One day, Nat’s apprentice accidentally drops a stash of pot in the dough he’s kneading, and overnight the challah loaves become highly-prized commodities. The witty and humorous script comically highlights scenes of people in places you would least expect experiencing new high points in their activity. And the lines begin to form around the bakery as Nat’s business goes into “high” gear. Nat, though, doesn’t realize why his baked goods are suddenly so popular. When he finally discovers the truth, it’s too late to do anything about the events that lead to the film’s upbeat climax.
There are also two side stories rounding out this captivating film. One involves the Jewish landlady of the place Nat’s competitor wants to purchase, who is romantically interested in Nat – and the other portrays a tough-as-nails marijuana dealer who threatens Ayyash and eventually Nat and the bakery.
Dough is an extremely entertaining and funny film that uses gentle humor and effective character development between Nat and Ayyash to both portray ethnic mistrust and family tensions and point the way to their resolution.
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Forman is a freelance writer who specializes in the literature and the cultural arts