The person who wrote that this is a fairy tale was right.<br /><br />This is basically a beautifully crafted movie. I think the story would have worked better if Moises had been a shyer introverted kid instead of a semi street smart hooker-hiring Ferris Bueler's day off type making dance moves. This film is obviously a fairy tale primarily aimed at 50 something men who might have been about 14 in 1960 creating a nostalgic fantasy for them. Why are the French so into that? I lived in French North Africa during the first half of the 1960s...and I was 8 to 14 at the time....I identified with the vintage cars a lot more than with the not too smart would be hood who was the hero. <br /><br />One script flaw...Albania was a rigid closed Maoist society in those days...they could not possibly have driven through it on the way to Turkey.<br /><br />Still I enjoyed the movie despite having my jaw semi clenched through a lot of it--I generally hate coming of age movies--personal choice. Everyone wishes they had a mentor like Shariff. However his litany of little clichés of wisdom reminded me of ones you see in B grade oriental movies. They were only bearable because Shariff is a great actor in the hands of anyone else they would have been a lightening rod for ire. "You lose everything you keep" "If you want to know something talk to someone don't read a book". Yawn...<br /><br />Yes go ahead and rent the movie overlook the pearls of wisdom by looking at Shariffs face or tweak them a little.... there are so many worse films out there.