Movie Review: Bottle Shock
In the footsteps of “Sideways” comes this thoroughly safe, slow-footed comedy set in California wine country. Director Miller draws on the true story of when, in 1976, a little-known, provincial Napa Valley winery beat the French at their own game, winning a blind tasting by Parisian judges in a wine-off. It marked a turning point in the making, marketing, and consumption of wine globally, breaking down the barriers to what was once seen as an exclusively European (namely, French) industry.
That sounds far more exciting than the movie actually is, as it drops us into a stale mishmash of storylines involving vintner Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), a proud but insecure soul, who’s invested all his money and dreams into his winemaking operation, and his disappointment with slacker son Bo (Chris Pine). Lending a hand to their shoestring chardonnay operation is the earthy Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez), a field hand’s son with a natural instinct for cultivating the grape.
Their testy dynamic is shaken up by the arrival of a hot blonde intern (Rachel Taylor) who ends up inevitably stomping grapes with both Bo and Gustavo, as the fabulous wine they’re producing gets everyone’s blood up. Entering their small-town shenanigans is stuck-up wine dealer Stephen Spurrier (Alan Rickman) who, in a bid to promote his failing Parisian wine shop, travels to Napa. The British Spurrier — played with Rickman’s hilarious, patented air of peevish snobbery — slowly begins to feel a kinship with Napa Valley’s ragtag winemakers; they’re every bit the outcasts from the elite Parisian wine circles as Spurrier feels himself to be.
It’s Spurrier’s story that makes “Bottle Shock” as watchable as it is. In fact, every time the movie turns its attention on Rickman, or when Rickman joins a scene, the whole movie is brought up a notch; it becomes almost a different movie, a better one, when we’re following Spurrier on his solo trek through Napa, and his attempt to gain professional credibility.
You can forget everything else about “Bottle Shock,” though, which is soured by Miller’s bland and cliche-riddled direction. “Bottle Shock” coasts along on aerial shots of wine country’s postcard vistas and a ’70s good-ol’-boy rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack far too often. Other than Rickman’s, the performances are strictly one-note and derivative — even Pullman’s. The reliable actor looks thoroughly uncomfortable in the movie, grimmacing his way through one lame line of dialogue after another. And while Taylor makes for good eye candy, the same cannot be said for Pine, who sports a wig so ridiculously fake, it belongs in an SNL skit. When you’re not groaning with boredom in “Bottle Shock,” you’ll be fighting the urge to leap into the screen and tear that idiotic wig off the actor’s head. It’s the hair-and-makeup equivalent of nails down a chalkboard.
Bottle Shock (2.5 stars out of 5)
Director: Randall Miller
Cast: Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, Bill Pullman, Rachel Taylor, Dennis Farina, Freddy Rodriguez
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