All five Wallace & Gromit films have been nominated for Oscars. Director Nick Park has won for three of them. A GRAND DAY OUT lost to CREATURE COMFORTS, directed by Park. His track record has been outstanding. A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH takes the thriller plot that has become a standard of the series since THE WRONG TROUSERS.
Wallace (Peter Sallis) and his devoted dog Gromit start a bakery, of course, using one of Wallace's Rube Goldberg contraptions to bake bread. Wallace was inspired by his crush on the Bake O Lite Bread spokeswoman Piella (Sally Lindsay). When they meet, Wallace is smitten and so is Gromit with Piella's poodle Fluffles. But it's a bad time to get into the bakery business. It's not the recession, but a serial killer that's knocking off doughboys around town.
Plotwise this isn't the strongest of the series. The by-the-numbers plot rises though thanks to the heat of Wallace and Gromit. The comic duo bakes a great deal of wit into the standard receipt that even if all the ingredients don't produce an original dish; the cooks have never failed to serve entertaining comfort food. Like any good series, some episodes are weaker than others, but it's the characters that keep us coming back. Gromit is determined as ever to protect his clueless owner, but this time around he gets a chance at love. The sweet romance is the best part, because it's about time that Gromit gets more than Wallace in the end.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
