Set in one of France's most renowned vineyards, You Will Be My Son tells the story of Paul De Marseul (Neils Arestrup), the owner of the grape plantation. When his vineyard caretaker / best friend Francois (Patrick Chesnais) is diagnosed with terminal cancer, it occurs to him that he cannot run the business forever. Unfortunately, despite studying the art of wine-making incollege to please his father, Paul's son and heir Martin (Lorant Deutsch) has not inherited his father's god-given nose, palate or passion for wine. This is something that Paul takes great pleasure in reminding Martin of whenever possible. However, when Francois' son Philippe (Nicolas Bridet) - who moved to America to be a vineyard caretaker himself - comes home to visit his sick father, Paul believes a miracle has been dropped into his lap, and takes no time in grooming Philippe to take over the business, behind Martin's back.
This is basically a family drama set against the "art" of wine-making, and there is an interesting idea of whether or not family should be placed ahead of talent, but unfortunately this isn't fully developed as the film spends most of its time showing just how much of a bastard Paul De Marseul is. Arestrup fills the character with a powerful, charismatic, intrinsically threatening man who knows exactly what he wants, while also possessing no sense of tact or subtlety. He is an incredibly easy man to hate, and it is him and this hate that commandeers the rest of the movie. The rest of the cast are also very good in their roles, but you'll have a hard time remembering that whenever Arestrup is on screen.
The plot takes a very long time to get going, but it never fully ripens, and by the time a potentially interesting plot-point arrives, the film is almost over. The script is littered with wine-metaphors, and towards the end it feels like every second sentence is a double-entendre for wine-making, which can get a little grating. Overall, despite the cast's best efforts, the story just isn't interesting enough to maintain interest, unless you're curious about the ins-and-outs of wine-making, set against a particularly melodramatic family argument.
