I truly wanted to like this film; it has much going for it. The acting and cinematography are superb, taking the viewer to parts of France rarely seen in film. Unfortunately, the filmmaker is more interested in cobbling together a series of set pieces featuring the philosophical musings of odd characters encountered by the protagonist than he is in telling any sort of coherent story. Pierre skips out on his long-time partner, Paul, one night and drives (and drives and drives) aimlessly. After a lone sexual encounter, Pierre crosses paths with a series of quirky individuals with much (but actually very little) to say. As presented, Pierre is a pleasant-looking cipher who seems to serve only as a vehicle for setting up the odd encounters which, in and of themselves, do not sustain enough interest for the viewer to care about this very slow trip through France. Paul frantically searches for Pierre, tracking him through Grindr(?!). Will he find him? Who knows? Who cares? This is a slow-moving film presented in a style peculiar to French cinema with little, unfortunately, to sustain it.
Review of 4 Days in France
