Veteran French writer-director Becker comes nowhere near the refinement and precision he achieved in My Afternoons with Margueritte and Conversations wth My Gardener in this diverting but formulaic and occasionally trite odd-couple comedy drama.
In part that must be ascribed to the inexperience of 19-year-old Lambert, whose one-note performance as a troubled teenage runaway is noticeably unequal to that of the veteran Chesnais.
He plays a 60-something painter by the single name of Taillandier, who is stuck in a creative rut that has blossomed into depression if not a full-scale existential meltdown. The fact that he has so much to be happy about - financial security, a good marriage, successful kids, adoring grandchildren - makes it even worse.
When he decides to hit the road - just after buying a shotgun - we may feel inclined to fear the worst.
But a bedraggled teenage runaway called Marylou (Lambert) seeks refuge in his car at the lights and the story abruptly shifts direction.
