A Good Year

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A Good Year
Promotional Poster
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Produced by	Ridley Scott
Written by	Marc Klein (Screenplay) Peter Mayle (Novel)
Starring	Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, Abbie Cornish, Tom Hollander, Freddie Highmore
Music by	Marc Streitenfeld
Cinematography	Philippe Le Sourd
Editing by	Dody Dorn
Distributed by	Fox 2000 Pictures
Release date(s)	November 10, 2006
Running time	118 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English, French
Budget	US $35 million (IMDb estimate)[1]
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

A Good Year is a 2006 romantic comedy film set in Provence, a region in southeastern France. It is directed by Ridley Scott. It reunites him with star Russell Crowe, whom he directed in Gladiator, and co-stars Albert Finney. Fox 2000 Pictures distributed the film.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production note
4 Reception
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Plot

Based on author Peter Mayle's international bestseller of the same name, A Good Year stars Freddie Highmore, Russell Crowe as Max Skinner, a cunning investment expert who, after learning his beloved Uncle Henry (Albert Finney) has died without a last will and testament, travels from London to Provence to visit the gorgeous, if overgrown vineyard he's inherited. Slowly, the women (especially Fanny Chenal, played by Marion Cotillard, the sultry owner of the local café), wine, and Mediterranean climate transforms him from a soulless, unloved miser into a warm-hearted man able to appreciate the world he's let pass by him far too long.

[edit] Cast

Freddie Highmore	Young Max
Russell Crowe	Max Skinner
Albert Finney	Uncle Henry
Marion Cotillard	Fanny Chenal
Abbie Cornish	Christie Roberts
Tom Hollander	Charlie Willis

[edit] Production note

The vineyard scenes were filmed at Château La Canorgue during the 2005 harvest in the Luberon area of Provence. ^[1]

[edit] Reception

The film was badly received by critics and (as of January 2007) has estimated losses of around $20 million. In the US and UK, critics savaged Crowe's performance as miscast and in France it was attacked as cliché-ridden.^[2] However, some reviewers found it romantic and beautiful.

Appalling from start to finish, A Good Year collapses under clichés of an ochre Luberon made for a loaded Anglo-Saxon elite. (Libération)
A sappy romantic comedy lacking in charm and humor. (rottentomatoes.com)
Crowe's as excellent a romantic lead as he is a gladiator, and A Good Year wouldn't be nearly as good without him. (Metromix.com)
(Crowe's) authority as an actor evaporates without any accompanying gain, and Scott... has trouble finding a suitable tempo and style. The movie is wildly overshot and overcut; the simplest scenes jump around from angle to angle. The filmmakers may love Provence, but they don’t trust the audience to love it; even as a travelogue, the movie is a cheat. (The New Yorker)
A Good Year is never less than visually ravishing, its warm, inviting vistas of the French countryside and its unhurried, pleasant vibe putting the viewer in the same frame of mind as Max. (Miami Herald)
A Good Year is like a promising wine that's a bit new to the bottle. It goes down rough, but there's this marvelous aftertaste on the palate. (Orlando Sentinel)

[edit] External links

[edit] References

^ J. Mautner "Luberon is the Next Wine Region on the Big Screen" Wine Spectator Nov. 30th, 2006
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6230443.stm