HE’S IN THE WILL. SHE’S IN THE WAY.
When American Mathias Gold (Kevin Kline) arrives in Paris to look up the apartment his deceased father left him, he finds an old woman (Maggie Smith) living there; an obscure French law gives her the right to stay there until she dies. Sounds like the set-up for an Odd Couple type of comedy, but even if it has a dark sense of humor at times, the film takes a somber attitude in its examination of toxic family relations and their toll. A somewhat bland directing debut for Israel Horovitz, but the cast maintains our interest.
2014-Britain-U.S.-France. 107 min. Color. Widescreen. Direction, screenplay and play: Israel Horovitz. Cast: Kevin Kline (Mathias Gold), Maggie Smith (Mathilde Girard), Kristin Scott Thomas (Chloé Girard), Dominique Pinon, Stéphane Freiss, Noémie Lvovsky.
Trivia: Jane Birkin was allegedly first cast in a role.
