NOT MY MOTHER'S BAKING (2020)
Critic - No. 183
Produced by: Studio59 Concepts
Casts: Siti
Mastura Alwi, Sarah Ariffin, Vincent Tee
Language: English, Malay
Genre: Comedy,
Romance
SYNOPSIS:
Sarah, a Malay Muslim, is the daughter of a celebrity chef. In a bid to strike out on her own as a baker without living under her mother's fame, she engages Edwin to produce her baking vlogs. Despite the initial rocky encounters, they begin developing feelings for each other. But they face an awkward problem: Edwin's parents run a roast pork stall. How do the two families bridge this cultural gulf?
REVIEW:
As a multi-racial society, Singapore has a
vast range of people coming from a different cultural backgrounds with a various belief
systems. It is always interesting to listen to interracial couples on how they
fall in love and eventually cross the bridge of marriage. In ‘Not My Mother’s
Baking’, Remi M.Sali takes an interesting angle on the interracial romance
that oozes with a promise from the word go.
As the first frame itself unveils the
wedding ceremony of the lead pair, we are prepped to witness the journey of
this couple’s struggle to convince their parents and overcome their own
personal conflicts. Even though the film starts off with the narration of the
Edwin’s father, the film primarily anchors on the point of view of Sarah’s
family. As an interracial romantic comedy, the film does evoke some laughter
with situational comedic moments resulting from the racial conflicts. It is
interesting to see the real-life mother and daughter duo clashing in the film
as well especially during a well-staged massage parlour scene where they banter
out their points about this marriage. The climax wedding scene was well staged
with a mixture of the Malay drums and decorations beautifully paired with the
Chinese lion dance.
Despite the overarching comedic tone and
light-heartedness of the film, the narrative lacks the depth of the interracial
romance between the pair with the focus lying primarily on the ‘roast pork seller
vs Muslim family’ point which dies down early in the film. Most importantly,
the story doesn’t really develop the romantic foundation of the lead pair at the early stages which painstakingly makes us not care about their stakes, later
into the story. Sarah’s parents approving their relationship in a blink, makes
the stake even weaker, gradually dissolving the entire tension the concept promises.
In addition, I also thought that even though some of
the jokes thrown by Edwin’s father on teaching Sarah’s family ‘halal babi’ dish
or the inclusion of Edwin’s Malay friend rooting for roast pork, could have sounded funny on
paper, execution wise might offensive to the related communities. We also
see an abrupt homosexual character (played by Ho Pak Kin) entering the story
here and there, annoying both the characters in the film and us, the audience thoroughly.
I also wished that the film had more
polished performances as most of the scenes play out like a theatre play in
terms of staging. Out of the cast ensemble, Vincent Tee and Siti Mastura’s
performances were noteworthy. Technically, the ‘Not My Mother’s Baking’ was
quite sketchy as well with harsh spotlights and jumpy cuts acting against the
existing shakiness of the narrative.
That said, ‘Not My Mother’s Baking’ does
offer some feel-good fun moments and Remi M.Sali should be commended for coming
up with such a bold story. If only it had focused more on the conflicts
and character arcs, the film could have been a sure-shot crowd puller.
Despite the ‘feel-good’ concept and a few cracking moments, ‘Not
My Mother’s Baking’ lacks the technical finesse, narrative tension and
refined performances needed for a wholesome cinematic experience.
CELLULOID METER- 2.5/5:
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