As a comedy about wine, Bottle Shock is hardly Sideways. But as entertainment, it’s a light and pleasant little crowd-pleaser that’s easy on the eyes (in more ways than one; thank you, Eliza Dushku) and features Alan Rickman at his snobbiest and therefore funniest.
It recounts the true underdog story of how in 1976 an entry from a struggling California winery won a blind Paris wine tasting and thereby proved that U.S. wines were just as good, if not better, than the previously invincible French varieties.
The one thing director Randall Miller (Houseguest) gets right is the scenery. From the numerous swooping helicopter shots of the vineyards to the characters walking through the rows of vines, he captures Napa Valley in all of its beautifully sunny and dusty splendor.
I like the actors here, too, but they’re wasted on what is at best slight material and the characters they play feel too generic. Bill Pullman is the pigheaded vineyard owner. Chris Pine (sporting a distracting wig) is the hippie surfer bum of a son. Freddy Rodriguez is the intelligent firebrand of a field hand. Rachael Taylor is the hottie of a blonde intern for whom Pine, well, pines.
Rickman, though, is hilarious as the British owner of a wine shop in France who conducts said tasting. He affects the perfect tone of snooty and delivers his lines in same droll manner that made his Die Hard villain so entertaining. Just try not to laugh as he scrutinizes a piece of fried chicken or drives his refined self around in a beat up yellow Gremlin that blows a tire.
And despite the sitcom-level writing, there’s more than enough stuff here to amuse you. Like how Pullman and Pine settle their differences by boxing. Or how Rickman’s shop neighbor in France is a French-speaking guy (Dennis Farina) from Chicago. In the film’s funniest scene, Pullman tries to nail down what it is about Rickman he just doesn’t like. “Well,” responds Rickman, “I’m British and you’re not.”
In the end, I still find the idea of wine tasting pretentious, though my father, who actually made his own wine for a brief time, might disagree. But if you like the stuff or like watching Americans one-up the French, then you’ll like this movie.
Comedy/Drama
Rated PG-13
DVD Release Date: 2/4/09
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