The Baker

By: Jamie Steinberg

In the movie The Baker we meet the titular character Pappi (Ron Perlman – as curmudgeon as he’s known to be on screen) waking from a nightmare. Watching this movie kind of feels the same way. Director Jonathan Sobol means for viewers to follow a talented baker roped into saving his son and his granddaughter from the clutches of a drug lord, but it’s a trite tale that is not worth the watch.

Pappi wakes early every morning from his traumatic sleep to begin baking goodies for his small shop. It’s clear that even while awake his past haunts him as his hands tremble while kneading dough and shaping pastries. He lives alone and works alone – seeming to like that way. All of this goes awry when his ne’er do well son Peter (Joel David Moore) witnesses a slaughter in an airport parking garage and steals a bag (we are left to assume it’s money) off the bad guys. In need of sanctuary and a babysitter for his [mute] eight-year-old daughter Delphi (the adorable Emma Ho), Peter reunites with his estranged father…You guessed it, Pappi. Delphi spends her time stealing various breads and eating out the soft insides while her father drives back to the city to make an attempt to exchange the bag for a life of luxury. Unfortunately, things go wrong (why wouldn’t they?) when Peter returns to his home to find the enforcer (Elias Koteas) for a drug lord (Harvey Keitel) waiting for him.

From there the film does not get much better. Don’t get me wrong, Sobol’s direction is not in question. He gets a passionate and emotionally investible performance out of Ho. She’s a lovely, empathetic and curious girl who witnessed a trauma that has left her with no wish to say a word. Your only hope is that she gets through the events of the movie unscathed and with the better life she deserves. Certainly, finding a home with her protective Pappi might be an option – as long as she stays out of his way and promises to stop eating up all of his profits.

The Baker is an action crime drama that just isn’t investible enough. Sure, we learn why Peter is a single father left to raise his daughter on his own, but he isn’t a likable enough character to care what becomes of him. How about a scene while they’re on the run where Peter talks about what has happened in their past where he has let her down? How about a scene where he says he knows she’s been through so much, but he has a plan for them, and he hopes to get her comfortable enough to speak again? Neither of these things happen. As noted, viewers will solely invest in Pappi keeping an eye on the youngster and making sure she makes it out alive after being subjected to another one of her father’s poor decisions. Skip watching The Baker unless you want wind up with a growling stomach rather than a favorite new film.