Mr. Sim has nothing left in his life. His wife has left him and lives far away with his daughter, his work is behind him and his depression occupies him completely. Back from vacation in deepest Italy, where his father lives in retirement, he accepts an unexpected mission through France to sell ecological toothbrushes. Thus begins a road trip, during which Mr. Sim will rediscover in his life, his childhood dreams and his regrets.

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Is Michel Leclerc on a slippery slope? After being charged by the phenomenal success of 2010’s The Names of Love (which won the César for best screenplay and best actress), his entertaining but flawed TV Gaucho flopped in 2012. His fall may now be confirmed by The Very Private Life of Mister Sim. Black comedy, romantic comedy, road movie, family drama: the movie cannot be identified, so you might as well accept and perhaps love this nonsensical movie, which takes incomprehensible detours and mistreats its supporting cast (Vimala Pons, Mathieu Amalric, Valeria Golino, Carole Franck), going in all directions to finally reveal all without warning in the last reel. Hence the unpleasant impression of watching an insignificant, inconsequential adventure that doesn’t quite work and makes you want to see I’m All Yours by Baya Kasmi (Leclerc’s co-screenwriter) again, which was recently released and with which it shares some curious similarities (Vimala Pons, Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui).