Bon Voyage

If for no other reason I would watch this to see Daniel Ryan. Here he plays an English Father, Simo. Whose two children aged 16 and 12 drowned while at the families second home in France. He told his wife Linda (Fay Ripley) it was an accident but there were no witnesses so anything could have happened. Another couple, Neil and Lizzie on holiday with their own kids , are "poles apart" in everything from the first couple who continually turn up exactly where Lizzie and Neil stay for the night, on route to Lindas' sister home and THEY ask themselves "are we being stalked"? If so "why"? As a drama it's OK, even if Neil and Lizzie are bickering throughout while trying to save their marriage. The other two creeps more than make up for it.

Bon Voyage is a very well made two part drama. It starts off at a fairly slow pace, but transforms into something much darker, the threat that is posed turning out to be much more menacing than first anticipated.

As it progresses, things begin to make sense, you kind of put the pieces together as you go along. There are times when you truly need to suspend all sense of reality, as a few things happen, which in all reality would never happen in a million years. A few things could have been expanded on, and perhaps explained a little better, but on the whole the story is very engaging, loaded with tension, and a few good scares.

It's well produced, and very well acted, Daniel Ryan is the standout performer here though, he's great value, as is Faye Ripley, who's very good also.

Don't expect reality, and you could really enjoy this gripping two parter, take it too seriously and you'll pick holes the whole way through it.

Overall, I enjoyed it, 8/10

Dumbest, ham-acted nonsense that had me gripped, if only to see what ludicrous turn would happen next. Other negative reviews have covered the ludicrous elements of this 'movie' so I won't gold the lily. Absolutely embarrassing effort. Should've known better when 'Faye Ripley' is announced as the lead star, and she turns up with her shuffling norther housewife act. Ridiculous.

First of all, I think that the director never set foot in France before shooting this film because he accumulates stupid clichés. I burst out laughing when the couple's daughter looks at the postcards for sale at the campsite and there is one representing Queen Marie-Antoinette! What a joke! And then of course, there is a 2 CV (a very rare car in France contrary to the old cliché dating from the 60s) in a gas station whose manager speaks with a false southern accent, a "French" surfer who speaks with a Quebec accent (lol)... The rest is just as grotesque. The characters act without any logic and are all perfectly stupid. This film would be a real masterpiece if all this were done on purpose to turn it into a comedy entitled: « Morons unleashed in south of France can't use their cell phones to call the cops ». Unfortunately, it's not.

I just saw this film and, like my summary line says, think this portrays some of the most inconceivable human behavior that can be put on film. It's technical aspects aren't bad so I won't give it a 1, but it's too bad the camera and sound crew didn't have the support of a credible script. The writers should be taken out and slapped silly.

The basic premise consists of

1) Stupid Dad takes Stupid Family on a camping trip

2) Stupid Dad meets Creepy Guy and his wife

3) Stupid Family meets the Creepys over and over

4) The Creepys do creepy things and the Stupids ignore it, keep it to themselves or explain it away with non-logic as they are obliged to do

5) The Creepys do their BIG CREEPY THING and, of course, puts the Stupids in mortal peril

6) The Stupids somehow prevail (out of luck, fortunate timing, coincidental meet-ups, etc.) and the Creepys are vanquished... The End

It isn't damning that the plot is predictable (which it is), but that all the explanation given as to why Daddy Stupid does this or that or what drives Mr. Creepy to be creepy is irrelevant. You can't possibly care about all that when you can't begin to believe (much less relate to) the characters. One example, You just ran over someone. What do you do? Forget the cell phone. Call for help? Nah! Why not run around the woods for a while and poke through some old home videos? Oh yeah, don't forget to tell the kids 'Stay here!' before you go running off. Perfect!

Skip this one unless you've missed all the horror movies out since you were a kid, or just like bad formula movies.