Moscow, Belgium, Directed by Christophe Van Rompaey

From the opening scenes of Moscow, Belgium, the audience can clearly see - and almost feel - Matty's fatigue.  She's not the woman she used to be, and her appearance shows she believes it.  The 41-year old mother of three, separated from her cheating husband, has a fender bender on her way out of the grocery store, backing into a truck driven by Johnny, younger than Matty and, we learn, known by name to the police.  Johnny offers to fix Matty's car, and she invites him to stay for dinner.  There's a romantic spark, and Barbara Sarafian as Mattie is great at conveying the struggle Matty has with herself about whether to pursue a relationship with Johnny.  Easygoing, fun-loving Johnny seems to be just the tonic Matty needs.  Slowly, her transformation begins as she remembers the person she used to be and realizes that not only does she want to be that person again but that it's possible, thanks to Johnny.  It's not syrupy or false, though.  It's a hard process for her, and we sympathize and root for her at the same time.

There's a heaviness and pallor that hangs over the characters, their lives, and even the food in Moscow, Belgium, but Johnny is the ray of light shining through the clouds for Matty.  Or is he?  Are Johnny's issues evidence of human weakness or something deeper (not crazy deep but maybe unstable deep?).  In the end, Matty has a choice to make.  My main problem with the film is that I cannot convince myself that the Matty I had come to know would make the choices she did, and this left me feeling unsettled and almost angry.  My reaction may be atypical, though.  Moscow, Belgium isn't your typical romantic comedy, but it's authentic in its depiction of one woman's halting steps to making her own decisions and doing what's right for herself.