Cohen Media Group shared the official trailer for Driving Madeleine (Une belle course), the French drama film starring Line Renaud (Dirty Money, Cop or Hood) as a 92-year-old woman in Paris who is moving into a nursing home and on the way she asks the taxi driver to make some stops along the way to locations that have meant something to her in her life.

Also starring in the film are Danny Boon (Welcome to the Sticks, Nothing to Declare) as the taxi driver, and Alice Isaaz (The Gilded Cage, Elle).

Release Date

Directed by Christian Carion (Academy-Award Nominated Joyeux Noël), Driving Madeleine, an official selection of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, opens in theaters with a release date of January 12, 2024, in New York (The Quad Cinema – 34 West 13th Street) and Los Angeles (Landmark Theatres Sunset – 8000 Sunset Blvd, Landmark Theatres Pasadena – 673 E Colorado Blvd), followed by a national roll-out on January 19th.

Synopsis

Charles (Dany Boon), a middle-aged Parisian taxi driver is having a very bad day. His personal life is in shambles and some pressing personal debts are due. His next fare, an elderly woman (Line Renaud), informs him that the trip will not be a direct one. The immaculately groomed 92-year-old woman, who is moving into a care home, is predicting this might be her final car ride through the French capital and would like to make stops along the way. Initially reluctant and exasperated, Charles is slowly lured in by her warm charm. Through the streets of Paris, Madeleine shares an extraordinary and dramatic past, full of extraordinary stories. And listens in as Charles confess his own worries, all of which she absorbs with candor and clarifying humor. During this drive, they will forge a friendship and a bond that will change their lives forever.

Reviews

Grading the film 3 of 5 stars, Guardian review wrote, “Both of the leads keep it low-key, with 95-year-old Renaud’s unfussy reminiscences dotted with defiant irony, and the initially unforthcoming Boon opening up under her cajoling as naturally as a flower. “Know what you are? A huge romantic who hides it well,” she tells him. Driving Madeleine for its part doesn’t really hide much, wringing us for full hankie potential in a somewhat inevitable final twist. But like Charles’s €292 cab fare, it feels mostly well-earned thanks to the sincere performances.”

Official Trailer

Watch the official trailer for Driving Madeleine.