"Waiting for You" was nicely photographed with some beautiful rustic scenes in France. But the slow pacing, the self-indulgent nature of the characters, and the "artiness" of the film were liabilities.
The focus of the film is on young Paul Ashton's effort to honor his father by learning the truth about dear old dad's final words before his death. Paul's adventure takes him from the UK to France as he follows a clue left on a post card.
Nestled in the woods in a beautiful forest setting is the dilapidated home of Madeleine Brown, a formidable woman who commands the screen, as performed by Fanny Ardant. Paul treats Madeline shabbily as she withholds from him that as a young boy she treated him virtually as a mother on a visit that he has long forgotten. Her revelation of the truth to him should have settled matters.
The deep, dark secret that the father withheld was that he had an affair with Madeline that ended in the death of a little boy, Phillipe. In the film's most ghoulish scene, the body of the child is unearthed in a little coffin by the relentless and obsessive Paul.
My favorite character in the film was Sylvie, a young woman whom Paul meets in France. Sylvie falls in love with him, but Paul is once again standoffish. It stretched some credibility that the two characters eventually seemed to head off into the sunset together in the end.
The focus of the film is on young Paul Ashton's effort to honor his father by learning the truth about dear old dad's final words before his death. Paul's adventure takes him from the UK to France as he follows a clue left on a post card.
Nestled in the woods in a beautiful forest setting is the dilapidated home of Madeleine Brown, a formidable woman who commands the screen, as performed by Fanny Ardant. Paul treats Madeline shabbily as she withholds from him that as a young boy she treated him virtually as a mother on a visit that he has long forgotten. Her revelation of the truth to him should have settled matters.
The deep, dark secret that the father withheld was that he had an affair with Madeline that ended in the death of a little boy, Phillipe. In the film's most ghoulish scene, the body of the child is unearthed in a little coffin by the relentless and obsessive Paul.
My favorite character in the film was Sylvie, a young woman whom Paul meets in France. Sylvie falls in love with him, but Paul is once again standoffish. It stretched some credibility that the two characters eventually seemed to head off into the sunset together in the end.