On My Way (2013)

Directed by: Emmanuelle Bercot
Country: France

Movie Review: Celebrated French actress, Catherine Deneuve, stars in “On My Way”, a road movie that depicts complicated relationships within a family. Emmanuelle Bercot who has a parallel career as actress and hadn’t directed a feature film since 2005, co-wrote and directed. With self-confidence and a certain charm, Deneuve gives life to the discontented widow and former beauty queen, Bettie (Deneuve), a woman in her 60’s who is struggling with several financial problems in the restaurant she owns, and feels broken-hearted with an unrequited love for Ettiene, a married man. In the verge of a breakdown, the only thing that calms her down is a cigarette, a good motive to talk with some strangers or hang out in pubs where she might have some occasional adventures. She will start to see other meaning in her life after accept a request of her estranged daughter, Muriel (Camille), to drive her grandson, Charly (Nemo Schiffman), to his paternal grandfather. With a conveniently nostalgic score, grandson and grandmother will get to know each other better, while the problems seem to slowly vanish during the slow-burning and many times tedious developments of the trip. After the storm of the first two thirds, comes the calm, and everything ends up in perfection, with everybody around the table, singing and enjoying the company of one another. The restaurant might be lost but the family was retrieved. Bercot’s direction was acceptable, using a non-static camera in several occasions, but the plot didn’t touch me a bit, and "On My Way" was just another instantly forgettable super chewed drama.