Standout thesping by stars Dorian Missick and Zoe Saldana, along with fully fleshed-out secondary roles, distinguish Pete Chatmon's gentle comedy "Premium," about a black actor juggling concurrent crises on the love, work and home fronts. While the satirizing of black stereotypical movie roles was angrier and funnier in Robert Townsend's breakthrough 1987 laffer, "Hollywood Shuffle," Chatmon's laid-back rhythms smack more of soft-shoe than shuffle in this thoroughly engaging film. With careful handling, marginal indie could provide an unpretentious alternative to raucous mainstream fare. - Ronnie Scheib, VARIETY read more »