|
As a child, British Max Skinner
(Freddie Highmore) picked up precious life from his uncle Henry (Albert Finney) in France. As an adult, Max (Russell Crowe) inherits his uncle's decaying chateau and vast
vineyard, the very place he enjoyed as a boy.
In his words a "greedy bastard", the womanizing Max thinks of selling the property upon the prodding of his best friend, real estate agent Charlie (Tom Hollander), but Max soon gets to appreciate the local colors of the French countryside—especially when he meets a pert and pretty café owner, Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard). A dark cloud, however, drifts into the scene in the person of Christie Roberts (Abbie Cornish), a young American claiming to be his uncle's illegitimate daughter. Aggravating matters is the vine tender Duflot (Didier Bourdon), who insists that his late Uncles Henry actually wanted to sell the property.
A Good Year is a picturesque, light-hearted comedy whose appeal lies in its effective cinematography. Philippe Le Sourd's camera swings between the fast-paced, high-tech, high-financed world in London and the laid-back sun-dappled days in lush southern France. The script is adapted from Peter Mayle's book---fans of the best-selling Mayle and the versatile Crowe will no doubt find this movie charming and easy on the nerves. Others who cannot forget Crowe's virility in Gladiator, however, might be a tad disappointed to see their hero performing the antics of a bumbling clown here. The script could stand improvement, but then again, perhaps director Ridley Scott (who also directed
Gladiator) deliberately chose it to be light and uncomplicated, as befitting an old fashioned romantic comedy. Making up for the lack of zing in the script, however,
is the perfectly lilting music by Marc Streitenfeld. The predictable plot is nonetheless rendered delightful by the well-places flashbacks.
Just as everything is treated light and easy in the movie, so its message. A Good Year
presents the viewer with but one non-life-threatening dilemma: to sell or not the inherited property. That's about the level of conflict you'll find here, and the movie makes no attempt at deepening the issue further than a romantic comedy deserves. For the perceptive viewer, though, will see that the movie is really about redemption---in this case it's Max's: from the "greedy bastard" he is slowly transformed into someone who learns more losing than winning, as one who has "less" ultimately gets to savor life more.
(Date Reviewed: 3 December 2006)
|
