HELEN Mirren and Donald Sutherland lead this disappointingly middle-of-the-road, golden years comedy-drama that should thank its lucky stars it has two such great actors to prop it up.

Adapted from the book by Michael Zadoorian, the plot follows long-time married couple Ella and John Spencer who, without warning to their friends and family, decide to leave their home to go on adventurous road trip in their faithful family motorhome that they call The Leisure Seeker.

This leaves their now-grown children Will (Christian McKay) and Jane (Janel Moloney) sick with worry, not just because of their elderly age but the fact that their father is in the early stages of dementia and needs pretty much constant care.

Cue uncomfortably light-hearted jokes about his forgetful condition as we set off on a languorous and predictable journey that delivers exactly the kind of misadventures, mishaps and misunderstandings that you expect, from flat tires to being pulled over by police.

Their destination is the Florida house of former teacher John’s favourite author, Ernest Hemingway, and what is supposed to be a newfound sense of freedom and enlightenment for the ageing characters. But the film is so gently and broadly played out that it never quite gets to the meat of the issues.

In a more nuanced film we might feel the full effect of the idea that John’s worsening memory is, in part, stripping away who he was or the sense of loneliness that Mirren’s perky Southern belle Ella feels now that her beloved husband often forgets who she is. But it just kind of lightly grazes these topics to little effect.

This is pure broad strokes storytelling that’s schmaltzy and meandering, without much surprising dramatic incident even as it chucks quirky incidents at you like they’re going out of fashion. It’s the first full English language feature from Italian director Paolo Virzi and it shows; where an outsider’s perspective on Americana is a welcome prospect – just look at what Chilean director Pablo Larrain did with masterful biopic Jackie, for example – something just doesn’t quite gel in here with a rambling script that too often leans on cliche to get by.

Mirren and Sutherland give predictably watchable and endearing lead performances, fully committing to their characters so that they feel enough like a genuine long-time husband and wife partnership, lending some much-needed depth in the film’s quieter moments. But you can’t help feeling that these two pros deserve better material to work with than this sappy, clunky road movie that, while ultimately harmless and well-meaning, just doesn’t add

up to much.