A Good Year

At the Cinemark

Rated PG-13

Grade B-

By Brent Northup - IR Movie Critic - 11/16/06

Ridley Scott directs with an exquisite visual touch.

Films such as “Blade Runner” and “The Duellists” were so lush, even filmgoers who spoke zero English could have loved watching them, without understanding a word.

Who needs words when the images are so poetic?

Scott’s latest film, “A Good Year,” has the usual elegant exterior, but is much less consistent on the inside.

The biggest mistake was for Scott to insert awkward comedy into a lovely parable of the rich man who discovers he needs a heart.

This tale moves from the London stock exchange to the Paris countryside. When Scott shows us how wine is made and lets us soak in French villas, we are entranced.

But when Scott directs a scene in which Russell Crowe drives a tiny car in circles around a traffic circle, we are annoyed.

Maybe Ridley Scott just isn’t a funny man. I wonder.

The story finds Max (Russell Crowe) doing whatever it takes to make money in the stock world of London. When Max receives word that his uncle has died and left him a French vineyard, he decides to visit his inherited land.

Max expects to sell the land and make some more money, per normal.

Needless to say, he slowly reconsiders.

There are three forces pulling on his soul: his childhood memories of his beloved uncle flood back when he’s on the land; his libido goes bumpety bumpety when he meets beautiful Fanny in a restaurant; and, most elusively, something deep inside begins to sense the emptiness of his life and long for more.

The journey is enjoyable and thought provoking, even while being a movie cliché. I could easily play a game of “back to nature” movie plots without running out of titles.

I find Russell Crowe very watchable, in much the same way that Richard Burton was watchable. Both are flawed human beings who use that dark energy to energize their performances. Al Pacino fits that mold, also. And all three are brilliant actors.

But I did tire of the comic moments in this romantic comedy. Crowe seemed uncomfortable with them, too, not because he’s not funny, but because they were such silly detours in an otherwise charming story.

The pretty French/Australian girls were just fine, too, thank you, but the movie revolves around Crowe and Albert Finney, who plays the uncle. We meet Finney through flashbacks and see the young max being mentored by a caring man who loves wine too much.

Overall, “Good Year” whets the appetite for a philosophic romance about greed and grapes, but sends us home a touch hungry.

Still, it’s a nice choice for those who love a nice sunrise and who prefer a slow pace to a rat race. Many Montanans live here for just those reasons.