2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

"Bonneville" is a sentimental, daffy and dawdling road picture about people who have some mileage on them. Well cast, with a couple of Oscar winners and a sometime Oscar contender at its core, it's a Thelma & Louise & Carol Makes Three journey of self-discovery that takes place in a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville convertible.

Jessica Lange stars as Arvilla, an Idaho woman who has just lost her husband. He was an adventurous sort, an academic who showed her the world. And he made her promise him that she would scatter his ashes in Borneo when he died.

His daughter from his first marriage (Christine Baranski) won't hear of that. She wants him buried next to her mom in Santa Barbara. If Arvilla doesn't surrender the ashes, Francine will use her father's outdated will to toss Arvilla out of her home.

That worries Arvilla's Mormon mom pal Carol (Joan Allen), a meek fussbudget, and it annoys the heck out of their brassier widowed friend, Margene (Kathy Bates). But reason prevails and they resolve to take the ashes from Pocatello, Idaho, to Santa Barbara, Calif. And as predictable as this journey is, at least it's not a boring one. They miss their flight and decide, instead, to drive that 1966 Bonneville to a memorial service to take place the next week.

Christopher N. Rowley's movie ambles over lots of the scenic West, picking up a handsome, helpful hitchhiker (Victor Rasuk in the Brad Pitt role) and a dashing, age-appropriate trucker (Tom Skerritt) along the way. The women have adventures, bicker and crack wise. "This thing doesn't even have air bags," Carol's husband (Tom Wopat) complains.

"Sure it does. Three of 'em," Arvilla cracks back.

Bonneville is pleasant enough, in that undemanding "Bucket List" sort of way. It's a pity this odyssey is as pre-ordained as an Auto Club TripTik. Still, the actors make us happy to be along for the ride.

(Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel)

Rated PG for some mild language and innuendo. Playing at the Manor Theater, Squirrel Hill.