‘Dough’: 2 Men Who Knead Each Other
How can a Muslim youth save an old Jewish bakery? More important, how can he save an old Jewish baker?
John Goldschmidt’s direction of “Dough” brings us into the lives of Shaun and his mother, who are struggling to start their lives in England after fleeing Darfur. His life seems to be going nowhere fast with no prospects in sight.
A subplot involving an evil developer hastens the decline of the old Jewish bakery. It also creates the plot point that completes the connection between Nat, the Jewish baker portrayed by Jonathan Pryce, and Malachi Kirby’s Shaun.
Both men have suffered as they have viewed their families falling apart through the fault of others. Shaun’s father was left behind in Darfur when he and his mother had to flee. Nat believes that his own son abandoned him and the family bakery.
It takes Shaun’s ill-fated foray into drug dealing and some cannabis ending up in the bakery’s dough to keep the film lighthearted and to move it to a conclusion as the Jewish baker and his new apprentice try to save the bakery and their relationships with family.
(“Dough” is showing Jan. 31 through Feb. 17, but all five screenings are sold out; ajff.org.)
— Bob Pepalis
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