Emmanuelle Bercot's scattershot approach in On My Way does not always make the most of the onscreen talent

ON MY WAY: Unplanned trip takes the aimless route in this French road movie.

Catherine takes the high road

ON MY WAY

Director: Emmanuelle Bercot (Backstage)

Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Nemo Schiffman, Gerard Garouste, Camille, Claude Gensac

Rated: M

Rating: 2.5 stars

A LIKABLE enough French road movie, On My Way zigzags from the oddball to the predictable as it pleases.

Perhaps a little time spent moving in the one direction might have been the right idea.

Director Emmanuelle Bercot's scattershot approach does not always make the best of a wonderful, up-for-anything performance from Catherine Deneuve.

The veteran French star plays Bettie, a frazzled restaurateur in her mid-60s who reacts to her rejection by a younger lover by jumping in her car and going on a improvised odyssey.

You can bet your last remaining euro that Bettie will be a magnet for weird goings-on wherever she chooses to stop.

However, the novelty of these vignettes - seemingly improvised with non-actors in certain cases - soon wears off.

Luckily, a sudden plot development that sees Bettie joined by a grandson she has never got to know freshens up proceedings in the nick of time.

Written purely with Deneuve's considerable talents in mind, On My Way does get better in its second half, particularly once the leading lady is finally to drill down to the emotional core of her character.