The Man With The Answers (2021)

This unhurried, tender and utterly charming comedy has former diving champion Victor, a Greek, driving an old Audi from Greece to Germany, and on the ferry to Italy, he meets Mathias, a German whose Rupert Everett drollness so disarms Victor he eventually, after initial resistance, lets his guard down, braves the dangers of being chopped up into pieces on Italy's provincial backroads and welcomes Mathias as a companion on his journey to reinvigorate himself, a trip full of highs and lows, ups and downs, and beautiful scenery.

★★★★☆

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Paris Can Wait (2016)

The Trip series was definitely referenced during intial pitches for director Eleanor Coppola's first non-documentary feature, the extremely gentle romantic comedy Paris Can Wait that too contrives a reason, the flimsiest, for its main character, Diane Lane's Anne, to be driven on a restaurant roadtrip across France, from Cannes to Paris, by her husband's film-producing partner Jacques, and while the pair gorge on local food and wine and visit historical sites and museums, they relax, laugh, and share intimate moments - but no Michael Caine impressions - and she starts to wonder if she and her always-too-busy husband will ever get to do the same.

★★★☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS