By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders
Bottle Shock
Well, Bottle Shock is the kind of movie I only see because I'm getting to interview the actors. I like wine, but I wouldn't see a biopic about a winemaker. I mean, there are Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin movies I still haven't seen, so I shouldn't be wasting viewing time. But I wanted to meet Alan Rickman.
Review: Bottle Shock
Bottle Shock is a perfectly mediocre, inoffensive, unextraordinary movie about the wine industry. It's based on the true story of the California vineyard who won a prestigious French contest, but all the trials and tribulations it took to get there. It's a family business, the father and son don't see eye to eye, the Brit is out of place, a hired hand goes out on his own and a girl comes between them. You know…
It's kinda like Sideways without the metaphor. Here wine doesn't represent the characters. It's just the thing they do. And the passionate talk about winemaking just isn't for me. Maybe extreme hyperbole is not that relatable.
Taking cues from other genres, there are hippy rants on random tangents. They play wine games taking bets on blind taste tests, like pool sharks without the visual excitement.
I did like Dad's parenting technique of boxing with his son. The son's a grown up, but I imagine they'd been doing this a while. I'm in favor of that. Sometimes it's the only thing those little brats understand.
Wine snobs will surely love this movie. It's got everything for them. I guess I'm not as snooty as I thought because I just like to drink it. The movie didn't bother me, but I'd certainly rather watch Meet the Spartans on Blu Ray again. Okay, no fair, that's only 65 minutes. I'd rather watch Face/Off or Batman Begins again.
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