How unfair!This little road movie did not deserve such a low rating .It's not a lost masterpiece,but it comes straight from the heart and it is
played by two wonderful actors.
Thierry 's marriage is on the rocks and his wife has filed for divorce ,but he is not prepared to accept it;he calls on his parents,to be confronted with the same situation: his mom and dad are odds with each other and she contemplates separation too...To take her/his mind off things,he takes her for drive :first stop is the graveyard of an one-horse town "where your granddad is interred ": to cheer one up ,we've seen better !
'I wish I could see the pope before I join grandad in this place " mom says .
No sooner said than done! Mother and son head for Rome .Then begins a magical tour, a road movie ,and a great rapport they have is not lost on the viewer ; Thierry is a grown up ,but has kept his mommy's- little- boy side ,even though he sometimes does his macho act and flirts with a gorgeous Italian woman named Laura Lucrezia (sic);Gérard Jugnot is clumsy,the perfect big boy , and most of the time he is overtaken by events .Madame Suzanne Flon is absolutely mind-boggling in her part of a woman who,in her own way,discovers feminism : a former Edith Piaf's secretary,a pacifist activist ,she enjoyed a long career through the naughties on the screen as well as on stage .In her trip to Rome ,she will be subject to riotously funny gaffes in the chateau where she makes a clean sweep of the drinks in the refrigerator ("it breaks even ,just the same!" ) and of the stuff in the self-service .She can also be a jealous possessive mom,who looks on her son unfavourably when he smiles to Italian girls .(she can be excused ,she does not know about her boy's predicament)
The film has a darker side to it;the final scenes verge on drama and it takes all the talent of the principals to make them succeed.The screenplay even avoids the" all is well that ends well" ,but an infinite tenderness emanates from it.
Also notable as François Périer's next-to-last movie ; in spite of this poor rating, you should watch "voyage à Rome"
