The Baker

The Baker has used a tried and tested recipe for cinematic success with its story of a hitman who decides to go straight, but unfortunately fails to rise to the occasion. The film is written and directed by Gareth Lewis and stars his older brother Damian (Band of Brothers) as Milo. After deciding that being a hitman is not quite his dream vocation, Milo heads to the hills, the Welsh Valleys, and the standard Welsh clichés begin. He moves into an empty shop in a small village and is briefly mistaken for the new baker. The locals soon discover Milo's real identity and see him as the perfect solution to their petty squabbles. They put in orders for "chocolate cakes" for their local nemesis, ranging from squabbling neighbours to a bullying housewife. Lewis is one of only two people in the village who are oblivious to the fact that his identity has been uncovered. The second is the woman he is attempting to win over, the local vet Rhiannon (Kate Ashfield, Shaun of the Dead). Where the film falls flat is in its aspiration to be an edgy British film comedy. Really, it only manages to reach the heights of a TV show. It is a funny, easy to watch film, with predictable outcomes, but the fact that it seems like a good British TV comedy probably limits the appeal it will have for an international audience.
cpyke@thenational.ae