(Jump St/Madman)

Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé) is the grocer’s son, a freeloading slacker in designer stubble who is dragged away from Paris to his rural childhood home when his father has a heart attack. He brings quirky friend Claire (Clotilde Hesme) along with him, supposedly so she can have some quiet to study for her exams but really because of his secret crush on her. In Provence he resignedly takes over his father’s job driving a grocery van to hamlets full of old farmers. Antoine’s grouchiness doesn’t endear him to the doddering customers at first, but slowly and stubbornly he lightens up somewhat. The film avoids some of the more obvious clichés of this kind of story and the interactions between the city slicker and the eccentric oldies are the highlight. Unfortunately, the story flows very poorly and seems as forgetful as one of its elderly cast, ignoring characters for a while before bringing them back to the forefront with jarring suddenness. Hesme is quite good as the summery, free-spirited Claire, but she’s got no real reason for her affection for Antoine and it’s a surprise she doesn’t get the hell out from the first moment she sees his dysfunctional family life. The idyllic countryside certainly looks nice, especially when contrasted with grubby shots of Paris, but it’s a backdrop without quite enough going on in front of it.

**½

JODY MACGREGOR