You are of course talking about the positional 5.Bd2 and not the tactical gambit 4.Bd2.

This system is really not too bad, you will usually get a typical French position with Black having a bad bishop but also a little more play than usual.  I recommend these lines when you know that your opponent will not want to sit back and just take a draw.

However, you may find that 0-0 works out better than 0-0-0 in this line!  Black has a lot of queenside play and unlike the Open Sicilian he has a solid center.