Rhapsodies

This week I decided to watch movies about wine and wine appreciation. 

Personally I like good wine, though I admit  I have a lousy palette. Because of this, my snobbery rarely goes beyond trying to avoid any wine that is less than two years old. My wine purchase consists of occasionally buying a bottle of Three Buck Chuck‘s. Something that would have all of the characters in the movies I watch this week denouncing me as a complete poseur. 

The first movie on my list Randall Miller’s Bottle Shock tells the mostly true story of the rise of California wine growing in the Napa Valley. We focus on Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) of Chateau Montelena. The business has been going badly and Jim has just taken out a third loan. To make matters worse he’s frustrated that his son Bo (Chris Pine) does not appear to be taking an interest in the business. Meanwhile, in France, English Wine Seller, Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) needs something to invigorate his business and decides to investigate California wines for a blind taste contest. In the process, Chateau Montelena attracts his attention as the best contestant. Can California wines compete with the French giant?. 

I enjoyed this film a lot. It had quite a few good performances and it captured some thing that I always look for where a pure love and appreciation 0f the wine tops elitist snobbery. 

The next film on my list Alexander Payne’s Sideways tells the story of best friends, Miles and Jack. (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church)  Jack’s getting married in a week so Miles takes him on a trip to California wine country for a week of wine tasting, golf the perfect pinot. (Also Jack wants to get laid one last time before he gets married.) The week starts well with our duo hooking up with two amazing woman Mara and Stephanie (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh) but as the week continues things begin to slowly fall apart. 

I have mixed feelings about this one. It certainly a good film with wonderful performances (Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite character actors for a reason) But I just couldn’t get into it. Perhaps it’s because several critics I respect liked it so much I was expecting something brilliant, or perhaps having lived it, I have trouble finding humor in depression and anxiety. Either way, it’s worth checking out just be aware you might not be its target audience.