Simplistic, stale and sitcom-ish, “Dough” follows a cranky Jewish baker who rises above prejudice to bond with a Muslim immigrant he has hired.
Jonathan Pryce plays Nat, a lonely widower whose London bakery is on the verge of bankruptcy. He doesn’t have much joy in his life these days, other than his granddaughter. His wife is gone; his son has decided to become a lawyer — rather than follow in Nat’s footsteps — and his only employee just quit to work for the evil competition, a grocery-store chain called Cotton’s.
Forced to find a new apprentice, Nat takes a chance on Ayyash (Jerome Holder), a 20-something from Darfur who’s secretly working for a local drug kingpin (Ian Hart). As it turns out, mixing the two businesses isn’t such a bad idea: When Ayyash accidentally drops some marijuana into the challah dough — and then reluctantly bakes it anyway — the customers show up in droves. Apparently, no one questions the resulting euphoria; everyone’s just hungry for the giggles.
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After all the awkward pratfalls and tired jokes, you may experience a similar hunger. Directed by John Goldschmidt from a script by first-timers Jonathan Benson and Jez Freedman, “Dough” is paint-by-numbers stuff. Not only have we seen Nat and Ayyash’s combative relationship before — look, it blossoms into something special! — but there’s also a weasel of a villain who wants to replace Nat’s bakery with a parking garage. Throw in a love interest, a precocious kid, a heist and a makeover montage, and the movie is positively brimming with scenes cherry-picked from better movies.
There also isn’t much subtlety when it comes to the movie’s core lesson: People are more alike than they are different. At one point, we see Nat and Ayyash simultaneously practicing their religious rituals, in neighboring rooms.
“Dough” never leaves any doubt about where it’s going or what it’s trying to say, serving up a recipe that we’ve not only had many times before, but we’ve had enough of.
“Dough” — 1.5 stars
No MPAA rating (contains drug use and some strong language)
Running time: 1:34
Opens: Friday
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