We can think of angels as bright beings from another world who are here to watch over us. Or we can imagine other human beings as bearers of light and love, doing what they can to make the world a better place.
The two lead characters in this engaging French road movie are lonely individuals who have not been able to connect with others. Eleven-year-old Pablo (Diego Mestanza) lives in a rundown hotel room with his mother who spends most of her time drinking in bars and meeting new men. The boy has retreated into a private world of violent video games. When his mother decides to leave him alone for another weekend, Pablo decides to take his destiny in his own hands. He wants to travel to Spain where he hopes to connect with his birth father, and so he convinces a down-and-out poker player named Louis (Thierry Levaret) to drive him to the Catalan coast. This fellow has had a streak of bad luck and decides that he needs a break.
These two make a strange couple as they hit the road in a rented car. Pablo is starved for male companionship and can't stop talking. Louis is a loner who can't abide senseless chatter. There are spats along the way and at one point the older man abandons the boy. At another, they pretend to be cowboys involved in a shootout. The scene is fitting given that both Louis and Pablo are isolated figures who have made their own way in the world. But the boy finds himself bonding with the poker player, who has nowhere to call home.
Kim Massee has written and directed this road movie using a digital handheld camera. She vividly captures the surprising ways in which Pablo and Louis share their experiences and become friends. After admitting that he made up a story about knowing his father, Pablo suggests they visit several other men who were lovers of his mother years ago. It seems like one of them might just be willing to take him under his wing but then he says no.
Louis introduces Pablo to a song "A Blessing in Disguise" which draws together several themes in the story. The boy and the vagabond adult are blessings for each other — cowboy angels who look after each other and provide the encouragement that each desperately needs.
Screening at the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York City, March 2007.
