Going Away

This strange French drama essentially shoehorns three incomplete stories into a lumpy narrative that never feels unified. Initially, filmmaker Nicole Garcia's Going Away appears to be a story about a rudderless substitute teacher named Baptiste (Pierre Rochefort), who gets stuck with caring for young student Mathias (Mathias Brezot) after the latter's uncaring single father abandons him for a weekend. The script suddenly shifts when the compassionate Baptiste is led by Mathias to meet the child's mother, Sandra (Louise Bourgoin), a hostess at a beachside restaurant a few miles away. Mathias becomes a fringe figure while Baptiste becomes wrapped up in Sandra's problems with a couple of violent creeps looking for the money she owes them. Baptiste begins to exhibit a more morbid, explosive side, which leads to yet another major story development. It turns out that Baptiste is more than he seems; he is, in fact, a wealthy aristocrat from a family of vipers who seriously wronged him. With Sandra and Mathias all but sidelined in the action, the film finally settles in on its most interesting narrative strand, as Baptiste returns home to face his crass siblings and cruel if sympathetic mother (a wonderful, wounded-yet-steely Dominique Sanda). Although the film does feature some powerful moments and thoughtful performances, the storytelling here is scattershot. Optional. (T. Keogh)