Mu Erh, Sean Kao, Chien Shih-Keng, PTS Taiwan

Weakly developed and only partially convincing, The Soul of Bread is nevertheless a charming romcom with mostly likeable, quirky characters. Anthony Neely is the best-looking and Chen Han-Dian gives the best performance, leaving box office queen Michelle Chen oddly in the middle.

Their rural life is upended by the arrival of Brad (or Bread, depending on if you’re listening to the dialogue or reading the titles), a handsome half-Taiwanese pastry chef who hosts a television program called Brad’s Bread (or, uh, Bread’s Bread). Played by half-Taiwanese singer Anthony Neely, Brad is on sabbatical to find the perfect bread, discovered long ago by his mother (Janel Tsai) at Ping’s very same bakery. The bread no longer exists, but Bread asks Ping’s father (Liao Chun) if he can stay to learn the bakery’s secrets and discover the bread along the way. Naturally, Brad is a hit, introducing French breads and new flavors to the local Taiwanese, while looking into his mother’s past and charming Ping bit by bit. Unfortunately, Gao-Bing has a front row seat for all of this. Who will Ping choose, Brad or Gao-Bing? Will Brad ever find his mother’s perfect bread? And will Gao-Bing grow a pair and introduce Brad to the Formosa Fist?

Soul of Bread is based on a Taiwan TV film, and it's worth wondering if the original shares the same flaws as this glossier big screen remake. Directors Sean Kao and Lin Chun-Yang successfully convey the small town’s community and charm, but the narrative has many holes that need patching. Brad’s story seems like a major issue at first, but the film quickly gives way to Ping’s romantic troubles, which operate as metaphor for her choice between a worldly life and the soulful comfort of home. There’s a workable conflict here, but it exists mostly on paper rather than on the screen. The backstory does all the heavy lifting, with screen action limited to whether or not Ping can resist Brad’s Western-bred romantic advances. The events themselves – a bread contest, Brad’s invitation to take Ping abroad – oftentimes seem rushed or perfunctory. Ultimately, the success of the romantic scenes may hinge simply on your attraction to or tolerance of the stars.

Anthony Neely’s Brad is a problem. While the actor has good onscreen presence and handles his English dialogue well, the character never makes sense. Brad enters Ping’s life seeming like the perfect man, with the whole town quickly swooning over him. Oddly, no one (including Ping’s father) seems to care that Brad is basically trying to steal Gao-Bing’s longtime girl right in front of Gao-Bing. Also, Brad flip-flops often, transforming from sensitive hunk to selfish lout whenever it serves the script. By comparison, Chen Han-Dian manages subtlety as Gao-Bing, giving his proud and sometimes uncouth character a believable, winning sympathy. Chen does get some chances to cut loose too, during fantasy scenes where he reacts to the wondrous breads that he tastes. As the girl in between, Michelle Chen is engaging if not fully developed, and the supporting actors are diverting. In particular, Liao Chun shines as Ping's saxophone-playing father, and the cameos (including some from the original telefilm cast) are amusing.

As any foodie film must, Soul of Bread features occasional descriptions of delectable foods, complete with glossy images that should make the viewer hungry. The film isn’t wall-to-wall with the mouth-watering moments, but they do pop up occasionally and appreciably. The food itself is not that integral, however. Brad’s quest for his mom’s perfect bread ultimately becomes little more than a framing device – a minor bit of cultural Formosa fluffing that tells everyone, hopefully everywhere, that Taiwan is a nice place with people who love, live and make pretty damn good bread. This is nationalism via filmmaking, but it’s light, agreeable and not at all insulting. After all, Taiwan isn’t throwing anyone else under the bus in proclaiming their own culinary and cultural coolness. Soul of Bread doesn’t come with a strong recommendation, but it’s innocuous and tastefully commercial. But beware of carbs. (Kozo, 2012)