Bottle Shock

2008, d. Randall Miller - amazonprime

Not wanting to start yet another TV series, we were strolling through the streamers to see what exactly might pique our interests when we came across this Chris Pine/Alan Rickman vehicle that we'd never heard of.  Missing any sort of new Alan Rickman in our lives (RIP) we gave it a go....  

And it turns out, we've never heard of it before, because it's a total mess of a movie, one that doesn't understand how to just be about its subject: California/Napa vintners gaining international respect after a blind taste test against the French wineries in 1976.

The film could have been a real love story to wine, winemaking and the (snobby) culture of wine consuming of the era, but it gets far too bogged down in individual characters and sorry attempts at providing dramatic and romantic story arcs. It's wildly unfocused at the task at hand, losing sight of the real draw, Alan Rickman as the sommelier mastermind behind the duel.

We instead get a real dogshit arc about Chris Pine as the aimless hippie son of a winemaker who needs to find his purpose and also prove himself to the cute intern that's working for his dad (Rachael Taylor wasted in an utterly pointless and thankless role). Meanwhile his dad (Bill Pullman) is close to losing the vineyard, it seems merely because the film has to have stakes. It does Gustavo (Freddie Rodriguez) so dirty, both as a red herring for the saviour of Napa and also as a love interest for Taylor. The soil may be in his blood but the film, despite making claims to the contrary, can't see past the fact that he's not blonde-haired, blue-eyed Chris Pine. It's pretty ugly (I get that the film is loosely base on a true story, but regardless of the truth, it doesn't care enough to adapt Gustavo into any rewarding or uplifting character arc). 

There's a cute scent at the airport, and the discovery of the "perfect chardonnay" is an interesting segment, but they're fleeting moments from a better movie. Even the ultimate face off, the grand blind taste test, is robbed almost entirely of any grace or intrigue. I think to foodie movies like Chef or Big Night which just luxuriate over the food and food prep as almost the point of the film, and that's what's sorely missing here, the camera's love affair with all things wine. The loveless opening title shots of Napa Valley tip this hat instantly...feels more like boring stock footage that anything resembling romance.

Skip it. Go rewatch Sideways.