A sweet, unhurried film, Le grand chemin is another reminder that the French are masters of the coming-of-age film. Watching the movie is like wandering around on a summer day, predictable, not terribly provocative, but pleasantly entertaining. The film appeals to the viewer's emotions through its unsentimental depiction of a pivotal time in a young boy's life. Interspersed with the boy's experiences (with such genre hallmarks as getting sick on green apples and learning about sex from the neighborhood tomboy) is an affecting portrait of the troubled household that he lives in for the summer, presided over by a constantly bickering couple (the excellent Anémone and Richard Bohringer, who won Césars for their work) who vie for the boy's love to fill the void left by the death of their own child. Their rage and sorrow prevent the film from lapsing into sugar-coated complacency, as does the sure hand of director Jean-Loup Hubert. What emerges is a resolutely bittersweet account of a long, hazy summer, seen through the eyes of a child on the first steps to becoming an adult.