Could do with leavening

Dough (Rialto and Metro) is a film that will probably do well.

 

DOUGH

Director: John Goldschmidt
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Phil Davis, Jerome Holder, Ian Hart, Pauline Collins, Malachi Kirby, Andrew Ellis, Natasha Gordon, Melanie Freeman
Rating: (M)
Two stars (out of five)

 

The poster showcases everybody's favourite naughty granny Pauline Collins and claims to be a comedy.

In fact large stretches of this are pretty grim.

Traditional Jewish baker Nat (Jonathan Pryce) is struggling to continue in the face of competition from supermarket chain Cotton's and lack of interest from his children.

He can be forgiven for being a gloomy Gus, but the person who is really struggling is Ayyash (Jerome Holder), a young refugee who is desperate for a real job so he can afford to get his mother out of the crumbling tower block they call home.

Ayyash makes money washing car windows and pesters local drug dealer Victor (Ian Hart) to take him on.

Victor tells Ayyash he needs a cover job to explain where all the money is coming from, so in next to no time Muslim Ayyash is working for orthodox Nat, something that they both are unhappy about.

Nat's shop becomes full of customers uncertain if they are there for the bread or the special extras that Ayyash keeps under the counter.

For something that is selling itself as jolly japes when baking with dope, Dough is remarkably short of jokes.

Everything about it feels like a setup for a punchline that never arrives, which left me rather aggrieved.

The cast is chocker with actors I enjoy watching, I just wished they had something more interesting to do.

- Christine Powley 

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