Fidélité Films, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Wild Bunch,

Catherine Deneuve, Nemo Schiffman, Gérard Garouste, Camille, Claude Gensac, Paul Hamy, Mylène Demongeot, Hafsia Herzi, Evelyne Leclercq, Valérie Lagrange

Bettie (Catherine Deneuve) is the owner of a restaurant, but it’s having financial difficulties. She’s just gotten out of a failed relationship and the pressure is building. Then she finds herself out of cigarettes and heads out on the road to buy some, but it’s Sunday and most of the places where she would get them are closed, but since she really wants a pack of cigarettes, she makes the snap decision to keep driving and never look back. She decides along the way to pick up her grandson to try to patch things up with her daughter, and he joins her as sets out to deliver him to his Grandfather. As in most road trip films, it’s all about the journey and the experiences as Bettie tries to pull it back together. This film is in French with English subtitles.

I can remember Catherine Deneuve from way back in the 70’s when she was young and beautiful. I haven’t seen her for years, but it was nice to see an old friend. She’s definitely older, and she does a brilliant job of playing the struggling restaurant owner who just can’t seem to catch a break and is just fed up. This is a very French style film, but it was a pleasure to watch. Denueve’s character was played very well, and she really knows how to pull the feelings out of us along the way. From ditzy and air headed to sullen and sad, she goes through a range of emotions, and we want her to succeed if for no other reason than she deserves it. Her grandson Charly (Nemo Schiffman) is also well played. He is rotten one moment and really caring the next. The play between these two characters is what makes this film interesting. The beginning is a bit slow for my taste, but if you keep with it, it picks up as it goes along. I really hoped for a better ending, but the do try, really hurriedly, in the end to tie up all the loose ends, but it certainly could have been better ended. It’s too much like a “let’s give this thing a realistic ending instead of a story book ending” which is more like life (which is usually pretty boring) and not really what I wanted, but it was a well done road picture and well worth watching, if for nothing else, but for the culture. I think it’s a good experience to watch a film with subtitles once in a while, and I think it does us good. This was one I was not blown away by, but it was worth my time, and I’m glad I got re-acquainted with one of the royals of French cinema.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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