By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Paolo Virzi
Starring: Ahmed Lucan | Christian McKay | Dana Ivey | Dick Gregory | Donald Sutherland | Helen Mirren | Janel Moloney
Country: france, italy
Year: 2017
Running time: 112
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3741632/reference
Thom says: “This shows me to be the old curmudgeon buzz-killer but I found this sappy love story to be pure hokum. Helen Mirren & Donald Sutherland are both highly trained and professional actors and she especially embraces her part to a loving degree. Sutherland, while an early, huge success with me lost his must-see status some years back as he got too hammy for my tastes. Here they play old married couple Ella & John Spencer who take off unbeknownst to their family and friends in their old recreational vehicle to hit Ernest Hemingway’s residence in Key West (yes it is worth seeing). The problem to everyone but the wayfaring couple is that Ella is in ill health plus she doesn’t drive & John has Alzheimer’s Disease and is as nutty as a fruitcake. So what could only be seen rationally as a voyage of despair and desperation comes across here as a constant delight filled with heartwarming scenes of increasingly unbelievable occurrences. I loved director Virzi’s 2003 film CATERINA IN THE BIG CITY, so this turn to schmaltz is disconcerting. 2 cats“