anyone see A Good Year?

[zoe b]

I'm embarassed to admit we watched it the other night--it's playing on HBO 12 times a day--and it was nasty outside so it was in one way a perfect movie to watch--it was like the curate's egg--good in parts.

Albert Finney was in it, and Marion Cotillard (Piaf) so that's good--Russell Crowe, not good.

Afterwards I googled it and the book was written by Peter Mayles--NOT my favorite writer.

Crowe plays a money guy who inherits his uncle's house and vineyard in France--there are flashbacks of happy childhood holidays spent there.

The house and countryside and village are gorgeous--that's what kept me watching--it's worth it jfor that.

There's a sub plot about some fabulous unknown wine that i never really understood--am guessing it got chopped up during the movie making process.

And there's a really mean scene in the restaurant where Cotillard either works or owns--Crowe steps in to help out on a busy night and an American couple is shown being ugly and dumb--trying to order Caesar salad with ranch dressing on the side--now i have cringed at horrible Americans abroad just as much as the next person--but I've also seen horrible Italians, French, Germans, Japanese, Russians--put any nationality here, please--in any order.

So, I was puzzled by this scene, as well as irritated--the audience is presumably American, so why put that in? So that the American audience could feel superior to those clucks? Bad faith!

Zoe

[lucylou95816]

I read the book first on a recommendation from a client, and liked it, and was excited to see the movie. I feel that they cut a lot of the book out, especially the more intriguing parts. The movie disappointed me, but my BF loved the movie, even after reading the book.

[Peter the eater]

I saw the movie last year and I don't have anything particularly good or bad to say about it. An nremarkable film if you ask me, and not worthy of the best food movie list.

[shellfishfiend]

I saw the movie and thought it was okay. It was a Netflix, so I wasn't out much money. I loved the scenery. Just beautiful and unknown to me, so that was nice.

I have read several Peter Mayles books and liked them. They are light reads. After watching the movie, I have not read the book it was based on. I know I would then fully realize how much better the movie could have been.