The wonderful Jonathan Pryce enlivens John Goldschmidt's feel-good dramedy, DOUGH

An unusually smart and intuitive actor, Jonathan Pryce (shown at left and further below) always seems to know just how far to go in bringing to life curmudgeonly characters. His latest -- and one of his most low-key charming -- is the Jewish baker/widower who is one of the two main characters in DOUGH, a little wisp of a movie that makes its U.S. debut down here in Southern Florida this Friday and manages to hit almost all its marks, leaving you feeling good and gooey and maybe a little teary, too.

From almost its first scene, you will have little doubt where the movie -- directed by John Goldschmidt (shown at right) and written by Jonathan Benson and Jez Freedman -- is headed. But so charmingly is it conceived and executed that I suspect you will follow along eagerly as it makes its way toward that feel-good ending. From its juxtaposition of rites/prayers and Muslims/Jews to the genuine annoyance/ attraction between its two charismatic stars -- old-timer Pryce and younger veteran Jerome Holder (below, left) -- the movie easily maintains rhythm, focus and thrust.

The plot brings together a pair of mother/son Muslim immigrants, the latter of whom is having trouble finding legal employment, and that aforementioned baker, who has business and family problems of his own.

Toss in an sweet and attractive local widow (a nicely-used Pauline Collins, above) who owns the block that houses the building in which our baker works, a nasty entrepreneur who wants to buy that block, a not-so-nice drug dealer (the fine-but-underused Ian Hart) whose pot the immigrant son is peddling, along with some cops and other locals and you've got a small community's worth of problems on your hands.

Eventually, the movie becomes a simmering mix of baking, marijuana, gentrification and communication in which ideas about doing wrong things for the right reasons, as well as the meaning(s) of family and Muslim/Jew rapprochement bubble repeatedly to the surface.

If a little too much coincidence leads to a little too much melodrama, not to worry. The occasional extra-clever bit of dialog keeps things rolling, as do the good performances. By the time of the feel-good finale, you'll be smiling. shaking your head and muttering, "If only...."

Dough, from Menemsha Films and running just 95 minutes, opens here in South Florida on Friday, February 12, in Boca Raton at the Living Room Theaters FAU and the Regal Shadowood 16; in Delray Beach at the Movies of Delray; in Lake Worth at the Movies of Lake Worth; in Tamarac at The Last Picture Show; in Fort Lauderdale at The Gateway Theatre; in Aventura at the AMC Aventura 24; in Miami Beach at the Regal South Beach 18; and in Miami at the O Cinema Wynwood. On April 29, the movie will open in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, DC and other cities.

Note the  personal appearance -- doing Q&As at several 

theaters -- by the film's young star, Jerome Holder (shown above, left).
Jerome -- whom TrustMovies met during Holder's P.A.s in Florida
last February, is a real doll -- as gracious and charming
as he is handsome and talented.
He'll will be in in the Boston area next weekend: on Friday, April 29,
 at the West Newton for Q and A's after the 3:30, 5:50 and 8:20 showings,
 and again on Saturday April 30 after the 1:00, 3:30, 5:50 and 8:20.
On Sunday, May 1, at Cape Cod Cinema, there will be Q and A's
with Jerome after the 1:00 and 4:00 P.M. shows .

James C. Ferguson's HAPPY HOLIDAYS tackles friendship, family and religious faith

Every so often, out of the blue, TrustMovies is asked by a filmmaker (rather than a PR outfit) to watch and then cover a film. So whenever he can find some time between already-promised coverage of smaller films about to open in theaters, he'll do this. The results are hit and miss, as they are with most output. The latest request come from a fellow named James C. Ferguson, shown below, whose IMDB resume looks pretty impressive. The film at hand -- HAPPY HOLIDAYS -- is his first full-length piece as director and co-writer (with Tom Misuraca).

The movie was actually filmed back in 2007 but saw its release, I think, in 2008, mostly on DVD and is now expanding into more modern modes of viewing such as VOD and streaming (click here to learn more about where and how to see the film.) Shot in black-and-white, which TM happens to enjoy viewing, Happy Holidays tracks the unexpected reunion of three pals -- one gay, the other two straight -- from high school and even further back, just before Christmas. One of them, Patrick (played by Paul Hungerford, below) -- a gay man about to leave with his lover, Kevin, for Kevin's family holiday gathering -- receives a phone from Alden, an old friend "in trouble" who needs his immediate attention. So Patrick tells Kevin to go home alone. Huh? OK: We know Patrick has some major problems.

Once Alden (John B. Crye, below) arrives, the two friends go to breakfast and bump into another old pal, Kirby, in town for his father's funeral. Given a little more coincidence and circumstance, the three of them meet again and proceed to argue, fight and generally annoy each other (as well as us viewers) big-time. This goes on for nearly 90 minutes, which is way over what the traffic will bear, particularly when, early on, it has become clear that these three wouldn't hang out together in the real world for more than a few foul minutes.

Along the way, there are some clever lines and a few spurts of dialog that take off for a time. Religion gets its licks: Kirby (Thomas Rhodes, below) is a semi-devout Catholic who serially cheats on his wife; Alden is a Christian who has recently converted to Judaism (the reason is one of the less convincing things in the film), and Patrick's an atheist barely in touch with his religious-minded par-ents. Mr. Ferguson seems to want to explore all this, but the explo-rations are hazy, shallow and not particularly funny or pointed.

The film's funniest/nastiest scene takes place at a funeral service (above) in which the priest mistakes Kirby's dead father for the dead woman from an earlier service, but even this, thanks to timing and performances that are just a bit "off," is not as well-done as it might have been. The writing is of the sort that fills its dialog with exposition and disperses lines to characters because they seem funny, not because they seem real or appropriate. At one point, Kirby offers a riposte that would much more likely come out of the mouth of a gay man than a straight.

This slightly "off" quality seems to plague the movie from its first scene, in the pet store that Patrick runs involving his associate, a customer, and how much "time off" will be given for the holidays. Later we get more of the same in a diner in which two women, one hard-of-hearing, plague Patrick about his homosexuality. This might have been funnier, or more embarrassing, or both. As it is, the scene is just off-base enough to not quite work.

Clearly, all three of our protagonists are troubled guys. If we liked them better, we might wish them well. But, as co-writer and director, Ferguson has not managed this. So, when the feel-good ending approaches, and Alden and Kirby suddenly bond, it's too much. Oddly enough, Patrick's turn-around, below, with his parents and his friends, actually works better than it has any right to. We are somewhat moved at this point in the film, which only makes us wish the movie had started making us care a lot earlier.

Happy Holidays, running a too-long 104 minutes, does have a charming song sung over the end credits called Generic Winter Holiday, written by Zack Hexum and Molly Beck Ferguson (who is, I am guessing, the filmmaker's wife, and who has a lovely voice). The song can be purchased from iTunes. I'd like to hear it again, so I just might do this. Again, you can learn how to view the movie (and get that song!) by clicking here.