"Bread" is one of those small films that for a long time lives just below the mainstream's radar. (It was made and released two years ago and is slowly making its way around the country.) Like the comedy "Greek," it is about nuptials. It is ethnic. In this case, Italian. Big plates of food arrive. There's an emotionally powerful mama and a crotchety old naysaying father. Plus it's got a good-looking couple -- "ER" co-star Kristin Minter and longtime TV fixture Scott Baio. Will they indeed make it to the altar?

The big difference is that "Bread" is a drama. A big, fat tear-maker of a drama involving secrets and relationship tiffs, a rather odd proposal and devastating cancer.

While the story line, also involving an elderly Italian couple and an illness, is the perfect mold for a routine cable TV feature, it's the seemingly effortless performances that make "Bread" worthy of a trip to see it on a big screen.

Baio, who plays a part-time baker and full-time corporate bigwig, is quite good. He exudes a naturalism, a compelling conviction that gives depth and meaning to the lines he delivers.

In one remarkable scene, Baio and Minter are on their first date and he explains why he's already popping the question. His performance erases the unfathomable timing of his proposal and makes perfect sense of it.

Among Baio's able co-stars is Marietta-born Shuler Hensley, who won a Tony for his supporting role in Broadway's "Oklahoma." He deftly plays Baio's mentally challenged big brother.

"Bread" is written and directed by first-time filmmaker Melissa Martin. She based her fictional story on her real-life husband, a biscotti and bread maker in Pittsburgh, and the old Italian couple who lived above the bakery.

Sometimes her movie is a bit too much to take (there's a corporate boardroom scene with executives eating candy and such that goes on way too long), but it also has tender human moments that dissolve the screen.