A Good Year a Bad Time
There is a distinct disappointment swirling around in my mouth caused by having to admit I did not particularly care for Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s latest collaboration “A Good Year.” Here is distinctively old fashioned motion picture that I desperately wanted to enjoy, but every time I could find sublime solace in a moment or a minute of it director and actor would try so desperately hard to maintain it the fleeting moment couldn’t help but melt away. What should be an effortless romp through the French countryside is instead a tiring slog through hackneyed dramatics and unfocused comedy, and the only thing more disappointing than watching this opus fall to pieces is realizing how truly splendid it had the potential to be.
Crowe is Max Skinner, a Gordon Gecko-like London stockbroker obsessed with making money and fond of calling the traders who work in his office, “lab rats.” After a monstrously successful day at the office leads to his being suspended for a week for his gleeful greedy exuberance, Max decides to take this sudden opportunity as a sign he really is supposed to sell his Uncle Henry’s (Albert Finney) vineyard estate to the highest bidder. It came to him due to his relative’s untimely death, and although every happy memory the man possesses takes place in this sunny Tuscany locale that’s not going to be near enough for him to stop from unloading the property and lining his pockets with cash.
You get the feeling watching this concoction (based on the book by Peter Mayle and screenplay by “Serendipity” scribe Marc Klein) that it should have been made fifty years ago by Billy Wilder and starred Cary Grant. Scott and Crowe work overtime to capture the same sort of effervescent blissful aura those two managed time after wondrous time. That they do not do so really probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. That they fail so completely almost certainly should.
The movie is an unfortunately labored bore, enlivened here and there by sublime moments sparkling brief inklings of interest and enjoyment only to evaporate ever so quickly as if in thin air. Nothing here is either unexpected or unforeseen, and by the time Skinner makes the fateful decision which will change both his life and the fate of his Uncle’s estate I was hard-pressed to stay awake let alone care. The whole thing feels like a made-for-TV melodrama destined for repeat airings on Lifetime, the saccharine sweet nature of it all probably cause for a label warning against probably tooth decay.
Still, the picture is certainly easy enough on the eyes, and supporting players Finney, Freddie Highmore (as a young Max), Marion Cotillard (as a café owner who catches Max’s eye), Tom Hollander (as the broker’s real estate agent best friend) and Didier Bourdon (as the longtime vigneron responsible for producing the wine) all have moments that could be truly dubbed wondrous. And, like all Scott production, “A Good Year” looks amazing, cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd shooting things with so much beauteous elegance the feature becomes a true picture-perfect feast for the eyes.
It isn’t enough, of course, but virtues this wonderful should always be extolled no matter how slight they end up being when the big picture is finally called into question. Unfortunately, in this case the movie just can’t sustain itself enough to maintain interest, Scott and Crowe stumbling over their good intentions nearly each and every step of the way.
Too bad, really, because as changes of pace go this one should have been magnificent. The pieces are in place and the story, no matter how familiar, is good enough it really should have emerged from all of this as decently entertaining fun. But that is not what happened, and no matter how much I wish otherwise “A Good Year” is still an unfortunately bad time at the theater.
Film Rating: êê (out of 4)
