Grand Tour (MSPIFF 44)

 

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Grand Tour 

Cast: Crista Alfaite, Goncalo Waddington, Lang Khe Tran

Writers – Too Many to List

Director: Miguel Gomes

 * out of Five Stars.

Grand Tour is separated into two parts.  The first part follows Edward(Goncalo Waddington).  A man on the run,trying his best to avoid his fiancé from finding him.   The second half involves Molly stopping at nothing and finding amusement in searching for him. 

Both Molly and Edward get an hour each dedicated to their adventures and while there are a lot of beautiful locations and fascinating people.  None of them have anything worthwhile to hold an audience's interest. Edward is this giant coward who would rather travel long distances than tell his fiancé he is no longer interested.  That would be fine if we had any reasoning as to why he would go through all of these tasks to avoid her but we don't.  Molly is seen as this very stubborn and stupid woman who thinks that this is all just a game. Even after her life is saved by this nice rich guy (who loves her for no clear reason either) Molly still wants to travel in these horrible conditions in order to find Edward.  Worst of all she even takes his nice housekeeper with her to suffer as well.

A good majority of this movie is narrated and while this device can work wonders in cinema.  It is a slog in Grand Tour.  It feels like you're watching a travel log video that shows you these amazing and exotic locations.  But all they do is alk about these two horrible and annoying people instead.

 The biggest crime this movie commits is that there is no resolution to any of the characters.  Neither Edward or Molly come away with any new found self realization about themselves or eachother.  Well Edward starts to but still continues to be a coward. 

The fact that this won anything at Cannes is kind of insulting,  Best director should have gone to Coralie Fraget for The Substance of Sean Baker for Anora.  At least those were actual movies with a clear point and message.  The only good thing  to say about Grand Tour is the trailer.  Whoever cut this should be awarded huge because the advertisement of this sets it up that it is going to be a slapstick style comedy and that is not what you get.

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