Israel Horovitz directs this screen adaptation of his own stage play about an ageing depressive (Kevin Kline) who arrives in Paris to liquidate a recently inherited apartment, only to discover that it comes with a feisty widow (Maggie Smith) who holds occupancy rights until the day she dies. Enter Kristin Scott Thomas as the grand dame’s spiky daughter, with whom conflict and reconciliation are inevitable amid much breast-beating about the growing pains of unloved children and the incestuous deviousness of parents. It’s solidly predictable and somewhat grating, only partially redeemed by a reliably watchable cast.
