Brilliant and touching

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a relatively classic road movie. Following a general strike disrupting all transports in France, 2 guys, that everything oppose except that they both want to go to Rome, decide to do the way together in the Mercedes of one of them. Marc (Patrick Timsit) works in the top management of a freight company. He goes to Rome to negotiate with an Italian firm, with intent to buy it and boost his career. He is ambitious, voting conservative and despising the strikers blocking all roads. Vincent (Charles Berling) on the other hand, is more mysterious, provoking Marc all the time.The trip from Paris to Rome, which was supposed to last one night, takes a new turn when the car is stolen during a pause. From there, it becomes a road trip during which you get a chance to know more about their lives, and how they can learn from each other to become better.It is a kind of social comedy, it can make you smile once or twice. It keeps going with new events refuelling the pace of the journey, which becomes a real odyssey. I am not sure I will remember it in a few weeks, but I quite enjoyed the 1h22 travelling with them.