Under the unprecedented and unparalleled direction of Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe makes the transition from testosterone-fuelled Maximus the gladiator to Maximilian the stuffy British high-roller stock-broker. The father of two has now mellowed out into a low-key dapper romantic twit and let me be the first person to herald his departure from the heavy-handed, Oscar-baiting roles he usually commits himself to. Unfortunately, "A Good Year" is not the ideal outlet for these new tendencies, slotting itself in with the rest of forgettable romantic comedies.
It is a god-awful cliché for reviews to use the word 'romp' to label a film like this, but here I feel it is entirely justified. "A Good Year" contains all the light-hearted, sweet briskness of a 'romp', but regrettably also inherits the lack of depth. Quite desperately Ridley Scott attempts to add background and layers to the story by interjecting idyllic flashbacks with Albert Finney, nearly all of which end up meandering and time-consuming. It's all very nostalgic and talkative in the film, but ultimately a ploy like this means treading down a road we've all been down before.
Let's talk about Russell Crowe, his abominable English accent and his character Max the stock-broker. Max is a narcissist: he manipulates, makes money and womanizes all for self-aggrandizement. When he returns home at night, he is met by a gorgeous and empty apartment in London. One day he inherits a vineyard in Provence from his uncle (Albert Finney) and reluctantly he agrees to visit the area. Seeing ol' Max the stone-cold businessman become increasingly intoxicated by the local spirit, the local wine and the local girl, the audience can predictably tick off the lessons, messages and the heartfelt climaxes from the rote formula titled 'man learns from midlife crisis', a most snooze-worthy template.
Crowe is an actor who takes himself amazingly seriously and often gives wonderfully intense performances because of his devotion to the craft. In "A Good Year", his heart is not in it and he never captures the physical comedy that is necessary for the lead in a romantic romp. Most comedy undeniably stems from Tom Hollander's scenes with Abbie Cornish (who for the record is too lovely for words here) when he gives his all as a foppish, fumbling Brit-twit displaced in Provence, the performance Russell Crowe should have emulated as Max. Marion Cotillard chips in as the local café owner/waitress in the little village with nothing novel about her performance, except the sweetest French accent ever committed to a celluloid.
"A Good Year" is bound to evoke comparisons of "Under the Tuscan Sun" and even if it is not entirely similar, it is not really entirely different from any film like that either. The good news is that when it is poignant, it never dwells on its poignancy like many Hollywood films would do. Ridley Scott is far too no-nonsense to fall into that trap. There is no doubt that the film is also lovingly filmed on location with a Provence countryside that is unspeakably picturesque. Although some stereotypical images of ignorant Americans ordering food at a café and French bicyclists flash by, there is often remarkable sensitivity to culture and language to be found. Sadly, it is never enough to save this film from rabid fangs mediocrity.
6 out of 10
It is a god-awful cliché for reviews to use the word 'romp' to label a film like this, but here I feel it is entirely justified. "A Good Year" contains all the light-hearted, sweet briskness of a 'romp', but regrettably also inherits the lack of depth. Quite desperately Ridley Scott attempts to add background and layers to the story by interjecting idyllic flashbacks with Albert Finney, nearly all of which end up meandering and time-consuming. It's all very nostalgic and talkative in the film, but ultimately a ploy like this means treading down a road we've all been down before.
Let's talk about Russell Crowe, his abominable English accent and his character Max the stock-broker. Max is a narcissist: he manipulates, makes money and womanizes all for self-aggrandizement. When he returns home at night, he is met by a gorgeous and empty apartment in London. One day he inherits a vineyard in Provence from his uncle (Albert Finney) and reluctantly he agrees to visit the area. Seeing ol' Max the stone-cold businessman become increasingly intoxicated by the local spirit, the local wine and the local girl, the audience can predictably tick off the lessons, messages and the heartfelt climaxes from the rote formula titled 'man learns from midlife crisis', a most snooze-worthy template.
Crowe is an actor who takes himself amazingly seriously and often gives wonderfully intense performances because of his devotion to the craft. In "A Good Year", his heart is not in it and he never captures the physical comedy that is necessary for the lead in a romantic romp. Most comedy undeniably stems from Tom Hollander's scenes with Abbie Cornish (who for the record is too lovely for words here) when he gives his all as a foppish, fumbling Brit-twit displaced in Provence, the performance Russell Crowe should have emulated as Max. Marion Cotillard chips in as the local café owner/waitress in the little village with nothing novel about her performance, except the sweetest French accent ever committed to a celluloid.
"A Good Year" is bound to evoke comparisons of "Under the Tuscan Sun" and even if it is not entirely similar, it is not really entirely different from any film like that either. The good news is that when it is poignant, it never dwells on its poignancy like many Hollywood films would do. Ridley Scott is far too no-nonsense to fall into that trap. There is no doubt that the film is also lovingly filmed on location with a Provence countryside that is unspeakably picturesque. Although some stereotypical images of ignorant Americans ordering food at a café and French bicyclists flash by, there is often remarkable sensitivity to culture and language to be found. Sadly, it is never enough to save this film from rabid fangs mediocrity.
6 out of 10