The bittersweet 1987 French drama 'Le Grand Chemin' has been reworked into a vehicle for Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, taking the same story and turning it into a big screen pacifier for undiscriminating moviegoers (with an aversion to sub-titles). The original version was drawn from director Jean-Loup Hubert's childhood memories of the summer he spent with an estranged, small town couple, learning about life while they come to terms with the death of their own son. The watered-down American model is based on nothing except the overwhelming desire to make a sugar-coated box office hit, presenting the young boy as a cuddly matchmaker for his surrogate parents. Writer director Mary Agnes Donoghue does her best to make the experience as painless as possible, but in the process smooths out all the rough edges of the story. The film, as a result, should have been easy to dislike, but it really doesn't provoke any strong emotions, pro or con: it's too bland, too generic, and (thankfully, for the filmmakers) too harmless.
