"Since Otar Left" is a sometimes-moving French/Russian film about the crossgenerational relationship between three women at completely different stages in their lives.

The film is well acted, but it is slow paced and occasionally boring. It also is a bit unnecessarily padded. This fair 103-minute feature could’ve made an excellent 45-minute short. "Since Otar Left" won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival but, in my opinion, this rather slight film has been overpraised.

The film benefits from the sensitive direction of Julie Bertuccelli. Ms Bertuccelli never directed a feature film before, but she was an assistant to the great, late genius, Krzysztof Kieslowski and the still active, Bertrand Tavernier. She also made half a dozen obscure documentaries.

The film’s star will probably be unfamiliar to most American viewers. Esther Gorintin, the 90-year-old actress who starred in Emmanuel Finkiel’s critically acclaimed film, "Voyages," gives rich, multi textured performance as Eka. Her performance is the glue that holds the film together. She is well supported by Dinara Droukarova, of the Russian film, "Freeze, Die Come to Life" (as Ada), and the stage actress Nino Khomassouridze rounds out the fine cast as Marina.

These three tough women live together in Georgia, and form a closely-knit family. No males are in residence, and the grandmother Eka is completely obsessed with her absent son, Otar. She eagerly awaits his every letter, and she seems only to live through him.

Eka’s daughter Marina, neglected because Eka spends so much energy thinking about her brother, Otar. Yet, when Marina finds out something terrible about Otar, she hides it from her mom to spare her the pain. The granddaughter is sick of the other two older women sniping at each other, and she yearns to have a more exciting life.

The women journey to Paris to visit Otar, and each of them lies to the other two. But all of the lies are motivated by love and compassion.

"Since Otar Left" has a surprisingly strong last third, but it isn’t enough to recommend the film. It plays a little too much like a made for TV Lifetime feature. Somehow, I expect a little more from a theatrical film that costs money to see.

One of the few genuinely interesting aspects of the film is how perceptive it is when it examines the cultural connections between France and Georgia.