A Long Way from Home

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but with a film starring James Fox, I expected it to at east be entertained. What an absolute snooze fest. The story revolves around two English expats living in southern France. Their life is one of sheer boredom. They do almost nothing every day. The highlight of every day includes doing the crossword puzzle and having the same dinner at the same cafe.

One day they meet a young couple and Fox goes mildly crazy for the young woman. He's super creepy and even though he's a total lecher, nothing happens between them.

About the only thing enjoyable about the movie is they beautiful scenery. Other than that, I thought it was akin to watching paint dry. Actually, even that might be more engaging.

I enjoyed this movie mostly because of the location, in Nimes France, just a short distance from Arles, Avignon, and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, places my wife and I visited when we spent two weeks there a little over 20 years ago.

However the story itself is a bit less dynamic. It basically involves an older British couple, late 60s and early 70s, retired to a modern French apartment complex. They have a nice place but you sense that maybe being there isn't all they hoped. Maybe living in retirement back in England would be more pleasant.

It focuses on the man, 73-yr-old James Fox as 73-yr-old Joseph who at one point states that he married his wife 50 years ago when he was 23. At that age you know your youth is well past but there is still a longing for the pretty girl, and the fantasy that maybe under the right circumstances it could work out.

That is apparently what is going through his mind when he and his wife meet a young British couple on holiday. By the way he looks at her you know he is smitten with 30-ish Natalie Dormer as very friendly Suzanne. She clearly likes him too, but I suspect more as an attractive grandfatherly figure, holding his elbow as they stroll through the vineyards, giving him the occasional smile from aside.

But soon the holiday ends, Suzanne's boyfriend proposes to her, and Joseph fully realizes yet again that his glory days are well past and maybe wonders how he will muster the enthusiasm to enjoy his state in life.

While I enjoyed the location and the actors, they are all good here, I don't find the story very compelling, maybe if they had ended up naked in the swimming pool then fade of black it would have generated a whole different set of "what ifs?" But as it is we just see it as an interesting "slice of life" of an older retired couple.

Roger Michell's LE WEEKEND (2013) offered a generally optimistic analysis of a late middle-aged English couple visiting France and rediscovering the point of their marriage. Virginia Gilbert's film offers a far more pessimistic vision. Joseph (James Fox) and Brenda (Brenda Fricker) have retired to the south of France and live in a chocolate-box medieval village in a sun-drenched climate surrounded by friendly locals. Life could not seem more perfect; but neither of them are very happy. Brenda busies herself around the house; the highlight of her day is the nightly visit to the local café where she exchanges pleasantries with the maitre d'hotel (Frédéric Largier) and eats steak. Joseph tries to deal with the monotony of his existence by taking daily walks and watching the local retirees play pétanque.

Into this world come tourists Mark (Paul Nicholls) and Suzanne (Natalie Dormier). They seem to enjoy the ambiance: Mark takes a shine to the local vineyard, while Suzanne enjoys some of the historic sites. However all is not quite as it should be: Mark dislikes Suzanne's tendency to over-eat, while Suzanne questions whether she wants to marry or not. Joseph takes a shine to her (although he is too much of a gentleman ever to behave improperly), and the two of them spent much of their time talking to one another. Nonetheless all good things come to an end, as Suzanne and Mark return to England, leaving Joseph to contend with his meaningless existence once more.

Gilbert's film makes much of the contrast between the idyllic surroundings and the unhappiness of the elderly protagonists. Whereas they obviously care for one another, they cannot admit that their decision to embrace the expat life after retirement was the wrong one. Brenda might or might not have the first signs of Alzheimer's; Joseph simply cannot cope with the early summer heat. Yet neither of them are capable of admitting their weaknesses; like two old soldiers they stoically continue their existences.

The film adopts a minimalist style; there is little or no music, and Gilbert favors the long, lingering close-up, especially on Fox's features, as he walks aimlessly about the local village. In the final sequences, when he is bed-ridden through exhaustion, Gilbert's camera emphasizes his feeling of nothingness; he really has no reason to continue living, even though his only in his early seventies.

A LONG WAY FROM HOME is a slow-moving film, interested more in mood and situation rather than plot-development. Nonetheless it captures the feelings of regret shared by many expats who have discovered that life abroad is not quite as edenic as they had once assumed.

I just gave a bad review of a talkie picture about two people wandering around a modern metropolis and talking. Yet I loved this movie set in the South of France. Emotion is the reason.

I believed the angst of these characters. Other reviewers have already mentioned that being on a permanent holiday is not as great as it may seem. The old lady is constantly writing and mailing letters to friends back home, because that is her way of staying connected. She also obsesses over her kids visiting. Life is not really about leisure. Life is about human connections and purpose.

All of these actors were perfect in their roles. The look of sheer hopeless anomie in the lead old guy's face was priceless. The old lady's unrefined babbling was right on the mark too. I'll bet people don't given much credit to the young actor, but he was totally believable as the rather ordinary yet admirably enthusiastic optimist.

Of course the blonde was enchanting. You could tell that she longed to be cherished and understood.

But the most profound aspect of it all, was the cruel reality of aging. Women are probably more comfortable with it than men. As long as they have a male buddy to dote on, they are happy. Women only have a very brief period of enchanting allure. After that, their appeal diminishes rapidly and never comes back.

If you're fortunate enough to meet one during her glory years, you have to pay the price later when you're stuck with her for decades, without being attracted to her.It's just the way it is. In the case of this film, the main guy was a loving and honorable husband, despite his partial revulsion for his wife.

A man never stops craving the excitement and carnal fire of young love. This old character wants to be young and possess the girl so intensely. But he knows that his days of lust, passion, and romance are long over. He has nothing to look forward to but more aging, sickness, and death.

The greatest scene by far, was when she asks him how long he has been with his wife and reveals his true age. You can see the reality set in for her, as she is overwhelmed.

Up until this point, she had enjoyed the company of a distinguished older gentleman and put his age out of her mind. But now she realizes that he is truly an old geezer. Worse yet, he sees that realization in her eyes and mannerisms.

The look on his face at the end says it all.

Nice photography and understated performances by the supporting characters. Overall, a sensitive portrayal of a real life scenario. Good work.

Brilliant performances in a realistic film. Expatriate retirees from England move to France to live out their golden years, Brenda and Joseph (Brenda Fricker, James Fox). The wife may have the beginning of a senile dementia, and the husband is depressed, suffering from exhaustion, and generally doesn't like his life with his wife or himself anymore. Same thing they were experience at home in England. Enter a young couple visiting, Suzanne and Marc (Natalie Dormer, Paul Nichols). The couples become friends, but James, the older man, becomes a bit obsessed by Suzanne's youth, beauty and energy. He is clearly longing for his youth. He almost seems to regret his life with Brenda and his lost youth, to the point of not speaking to his grown children when they call. At times he seems to be embarrassed by his wife to the point of dislike. And Brenda seems frustrated with Joseph's depression and low energy, except when he can spend time with Suzanne and Marc. Both couples are sad in that they love each other, but have such high expectations of one another. Even in Provence, wherever you go, there you are.