The Bread, My Sweet

I thought this was a very well done, though very low budget, movie. Scott Baio surprised me with his acting talent. He was serious, moody and passionate - about bread. Though I liked the romantic story line of the film I did not think it showed as much passion as it should have. Having said that, the film is still a very good and moving love story. The story lines following the brothers and the elderly ethnic couple were very touching. I would recommend this to any romantic at heart.

The rental box compared it to Moonstruck and Big Fat Greek Wedding. Besides the ethnic aspect I don't think that offers much of a comparison. This film was much deeper and dealt with more serious subjects than those two comedies did.

Very good movie. Check it out and see for yourself.

I had hoped this would be a light romantic film and the critic's reviews were certainly encouraging. Still it seemed like it might be a made for television movie, simple and sweet but nothing extraordinary. It was wonderfully surprising though. I thought the scheme to marry to make the mother happy would be unbelievable but they pulled it off. It actually had a very realistic touch to the writing. And the direction was superb, very subtle, again keeping the character's realistic. All of the cast were terrific but Scott Baio, Kristen Minter and Rosemary Prinz were incredible. Definitely a sleeper, very heartwarming and incredibly well done! One of the greatest unknown romantic gem's you'll ever find.

At first, I liked this movie because it's set almost entirely in the Strip District of Pittsburgh (a favorite haunt of mine & my husband's), and truly reflects the spirit of the place. The bakery interiors look like they were shot inside the real Enrico Biscotti, a great Italian bakery in the Strip--apparently the owner/baker is the director's husband. The Strip District is Pittsburgh's foodie heaven, so I was drawn into watching this one afternoon. But the sweet, character-driven story is what kept me watching. I've lived in Pittsburgh for 40 years, and these characters are realistic, not stereotypes. Scott Baio has definitely moved beyond "Happy Days", and the rest of the cast does a fine job. I love that his character spends his time away from his soulless corporate job baking, not only because his brothers work there and need their jobs, but because it keeps him grounded. I think of this film as a little gem. It's a sweet story, fairly well told.

Apparently some folks didn't care for this movie. Maybe it was because I caught it on pretty early in the morning, maybe it was my surprise at seeing Scott Baio play someone besides Chachi, but I liked it. I didn't catch the first part, so I'm only sketchy as to how his character became involved in the bakery. I came in when he'd taken Bella to the hospital, but the flick sort of sucked me in and I watched it. Maybe it's not Oscar worthy, maybe Scott Baio's no Pacino, but I found the movie to be likable, the characters to be fairly interesting, and the plot to be believable. I mean, I've seen worse. Lots worse. Like anything with Kevin Costner. At any rate, seeing Baio play ANYBODY besides Chachi (or Charles in Charge) was a good thing. And I loved the little Italian woman playing Bella. Makes me want to be Italian! So in short, if like me, you find yourself up way too early in the morning (or late at night) and you find this is on, there are worse ways to kill time. Just my two cents worth... :-)

Yeah, sure, you can say that this film is stereotypical. But being Italian myself, and coming from an Italian family, I have to say that this film was not stereotypical - atypical maybe. But if you want to bemoan this film for it's racial designations and characters, you might want to see "My Big fat Greek Wedding" first. You want stereotypical? That film will give it to you. It covered each and every cliche' possible, and everyone laughed. So what?

TBMS is a good film. It's lighting can be off at times, and the camera work is slightly jumpy, but I still believe it's better than a lot of boring hollywood productions I have seen as of late. The story is original, and if anyone wants to say that the acting was "wooden", you might want to take a look at the performance by Rosemary Prinz; it's impressive, and is not cliched like Greek Wedding; she actually seems like she's from Italy. Scott Baio is impressive in a role that only he could play, and at least he's Italian, dammit! How many more films do I have to see with someone playing an ethnicity they know nothing about? Baio thankfully jumped into this role, adding a touch of flavor to a role that probably would have been occupied by someone boring and overblown.

The rest of the supporting cast is well-played, with the exception of "Sister Grace", who was probably pulled off the street and thrown into a Nun's uniform. John Seitz plays Massimo beautifully; he reminds me of oh so many old Italians I have known.

And finally, this film does for me what many never accomplish; it made me feel like I was in the environment it took place in. If you want Italians to be "touchy-feely" all the time, go see something else. Italians are gruff, loud, and self-centered, but inside most all of us have big hearts and want to take care of those around us. This film portrays that characteristic well, and if you didn't cry, tough luck, I guess you really are wooden. I'm going to go eat some Biscotti.