A Good Year

The opening scene of A Good Year, set in Provence 'a few vintages ago', will pull you in from the get-go: given the location's natural beauty, all director Ridley Scott had to do was point the camera in any direction and let the scenery do all the work. Scott introduces us to the rustic idyll of Uncle Henry's (Finney) secluded vineyard and the majesty of all its trappings, and a circling shot of the stunning, ivy-covered courtyard that lies in front of the old house is just gilding the lily. But gild away, Ridley, because this is probably the most beautiful-looking film since Cinema Paradiso. Growing up in the south of France, young Max (Freddie Highmore) is taught to appreciate the finer things in life by his charismatic uncle. However, Max grows up into Russell Crowe, a cynical London stockbroker who has forgotten all that Henry has taught him; and when Harry dies, leaving his Provence estate to the self-proclaimed 'arsehole', Max is forced to take a holiday for the first time in years and travel to the region to sell the property. When he gets there, however, Provence ignites forgotten memories and his attraction to the local waitress, Fanny Chenal (Cotillard), encourages him to stick around for a while - but the bubble is burst when a young American Christie (Cornish) arrives claiming to be Henry's illegitimate daughter. There is one major fly in Ridley Scott's ointment but it is big enough to stop his movie elevating above so-so three-star quality, and that's the character of Max. He's callous, selfish and greedy, and to make him likeable, Crowe adopts a Hugh Grant persona. But an evil Hugh Grant does not compute and no matter how much Crowe treats us to frequent and supposedly humorous self-deprecating soliloquies, we can't escape the fact that he's not a nice guy. The love story, too, isn't up to snuff and there are too many characters flying in and out of the film, a ploy that might have worked in the book - Peter Mayle's A Year In Provence - but not here. Saying that, if you still fancy the idea of a two-hour holiday in Provence, you could do a lot worse than A Good Year.