A man in his forties (Clovis Cornillac) sees his marriage on the rocks and his ambulances business runs into difficulties .Returning ,willy-nilly,to his roots ,he spends some time in the house where he was born,to be confronted with his old folks ....
A mom ,an anarchist idealist who takes on an emigrated young boy (Tinocco)and who hates the cops.In this part of a caricature of the retired grumpy woman, Josiane Balasco wins us over: her comical expressions ,her stubborn logic and her stranglehold on her hubby she stuffs with kiwis and orange juice are priceless.
Matching her all along the way is Gerard Jugnot 's portrayal of a happy-go-lucky granddad who goes mushroom -picking , listens to Nicole Croisille (and even apes her,using a mushroom as a micro!)and probably keeps on smoking in spite of the doctor's warnings.
On the other hand , Cornillac's problems with his love life leave the viewer cold: this is too clichéd ;fortunately , little time is given over to this hackneyed subject ,and the son has his moment when he defends his mom against the cops ......
The movie ,however ,does not fall into the feel-good atmosphere ,which mars so many movies of the contemporary scene ;it has a darker side to it ;granddad hints as his possible death without succumbing to pathos; we feel ,that ,in spite of their daily quarrels ,this aging couple has understood that they have to stand together ,if they want to go through old age,and to do it gracefully.
