The road movie genre is the classic method used to portray inter-personal relationships. The confinement of the voyage (preferably in a car) acts like a pressure-cooker or as a catalyst, speeding things up. This forces people to sort their differences and eventually come together. This was also the crux of this movie and in order to render the whole idea more lifelike, actors Gérard Depardieu and his real son Guillaume were cast for the leading roles. But then it all goes horribly wrong.

And we are not talking the story alone; it is just a disaster. The story deals about a world renowned writer (Gérard) who just learns that he has won the Nobel Prize. He decides to go to Stockholm on his motorbike instead by plane, much against his daughter’s wishes. It’s here where the screenplay starts to falter: you cannot get a good grip on what the relationship is between the father and daughter. You have the feeling that they carry a burdened past, but it never becomes clear, not even at the end of the movie. Then there is the completely uninspired acting of Depardieu Sr. who is lethargically fumbling his way through the movie. It’s obvious that he is hampered by the poor script, but he cannot be caught struggling against it either.

During his journey Sr. gets kidnapped by his son who follows him on his trip. It becomes clear they also have quite a troubled past, which has caused them to drift apart. The fimmaker tries to explain this by some flashbacks, but other than some substance use from the son and some harsh words from the father in his early childhood, we are still left none the wiser. The period that caused them to actually part is hardly discussed. So it all stays very vague and we are left with a lot of innuendo and an unpleasant atmosphere. The twist in which the father is presumed dead due to a mix-up of identity does also not serve the story. The opportunity for the father and son to patch things up and bury the hatchet is not seized by the father and again we’re left puzzled as to why. When the sister joins the party in the end, things are still not getting better and the movie slowly slides into oblivion.

Quite disappointing, as this could have been one of those typical little French movies with a nice interpersonal story; however, the result is as disappointing as it is unbelievable. I was prepared to like this movie, but I could not find one single aspect that appealed to me. All actors involved should strike this movie from their resume and I will try to forget I ever saw this.