Viewed in
2011
Formats
TV
Premise
A movie about a 1976 wine-tasting contest that pitted the French wineries against the underdog American wineries. Starring Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman and Chris Pine.
Liked
Rickman and Pullman.
Disliked
Pine's ugly hair.
Thoughts
I guess it was not bad of a movie.
The story was pretty interesting, since it was based on real events. Though, if you peel away the layers of lyrical love-making to wine through dialog and cinematography, it's pretty much like any sports underdog flick. The characters were likable, especially Rickman's fish-out-of-water arc, and Gustavo's (played by Freddy Rodriguez) racial subplot.
I have a feeling if I was a fan of wine, I might have liked it more, and would be more forgiving of the predictable plot, as well as the miscasting of Pine. He was too hunky to pass as a hippie slacker lead. Whoever decided to put that radioactive mop on Pine's head should be flogged for how ridiculous it looked. Lastly, the overuse of the theme score was super annoying.
The late, great George Carlin once railed on how horrible the use of the word "nice" is. Unfortunately, I'm about to use it to summarize this film. It had some engaging moments about wine, and I'm a fan of Pullman and Rickman, but there was nothing memorable about it. But at least it was never boring either. It was just a nice little film to kill time with.
What I would change
Recast Chris Pine with someone who could pull off a better slacker performance.
