Movie Notes: Bottle Shock

October 18th, 2009

Bottle Shock

= 3 stars

Starring Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, Bill Pullman
Directed by Randall Miller

Synopsis

Snooty British wine critic Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) voyages to Napa Valley to find wines for a blind taste test in France, pitting unknown American wines against French vintages. Loosely based on the true story of the 1976 “Judgment of Paris” competition.

The Good

Provides a fairly entertaining look at wine-making in Northern California. There’s enough suspense sprinkled throughout, first with doubts that Spurrier is really out to help the Americans and then around the commitment of Chateau Montelena winery owner Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman). There’s also some light joshing of cultural differences between France, England, America, and even spoiled white folks and Mexicans.
The always-amusing Rickman adds a decent amount of dry humor to the proceedings. Beyond his over-serious wine sipping, he has a memorable run-in with KFC and guacamole.

The Bad

Haphazard direction and after-school-special melodramatics water things down to made-for-television level. Jim Barrett’s son Bo (Chris Pine) is a slacker-hippie, whose romantic interest is an essentially useless wine-intern Sam (Rachel Taylor) and lives in a picturesque but completely impractical open-air shack. The youthful romance should have taken a back seat to more (or merely more accurate) California wine history.
Eliza Dushku plays a bartender so superfluous, she’s essentially a cameo.

Conclusion

Rickman saves Bottle Shock from melodramatic schlock-ville, plus you may learn a bit (emphasis on “bit”) about California wine history. Totally acceptable rental, just know up front this isn’t Sideways.

IMDB: Bottle Shock
Wikipedia: Bottle Shock

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