Believe it or not, I had time to watch a movie over the weekend! And, if I were any more tired than I was, I would’ve fallen asleep twenty minutes into it.
Don’t get me wrong, I was in love with the cast. I like Kristin Scott Thomas from her role opposite with Harrison Ford in “Random Hearts.” And, Kevin Kline is a likeable guy. Maggie Smith speaks for herself, especially now that I’m such a “Downton Abbey” snob. So, the cast had it going on! Now, to the premise of the story.
Kevin Kline’s character is down-trodden and quite a mess. He’s penniless and a recovering alcoholic with suicidal tendencies. His only good fortune comes from being named the beneficiary in his father’s will to an apartment in France. Leaving America with nothing more than a plane ticket to his name, he discovers he must wait for the tenant, Maggie Smith, to die before it’s his. Maggie tells him that he may remain at the apartment until he gets on his feet. While staying there, he finds evidence that she had an affair with his father. It is the thorn that drove his mother to suicide, hence one of the reasons he hated his dad so much.
Maggie Smith’s daughter, Kristin Scott Thomas, also lives in the apartment. From a child to present day, she knows her mother had a lover aside from her father. She’s surprised to find out that it was with Kevin Kline’s dad. Throughout the last hour of the movie, the two become closer because of the circumstances. They share in common the lack of father/daughter/son relationship due to the affair their parents had with one another.
I won’t include the ending, which incidentally my boyfriend snored through and knows not of what happened, either. But, I will say it had a predictable finale with a hole standing in the middle of it.
If I were to rate it on a scale of one to five, it would be a solid two point nine. (I like decimals, what can I say?) Whereas I felt like I was spending the two hours and some odd minutes of the movie blowing up an inflatable two storey building, I did like the storyline and characters. I’d say it was a case of missed opportunity. There were a million ways in which it could’ve been told, it’s unfortunate they took the slow lane in doing so, riding a turtle with only three legs!
