A Good Year
Review
by Clint Morris
In
his latest movie, Russell Crowe plays an out-and-out asshole who seems
to get off on being totally unpleasant to all: he’ll give the finger to
anyone, rudely insult co-workers, expects employees see him as a king,
and nauseatingly guzzles booze like his throat is the only route to
extinguishing an out-of-control bonfire. Its only after a good kick in
the pants, and a trip back home, that he starts to realize that he has
to stop living and operating the way he has been. What better a movie
for a guy who has been throwing both his weight – and phones – around
for the past couple of years, eh?
Hollywood’s so unforgiving – as
Mel Gibson can now attest to – that former box office king Crowe (who
just before the release of his last major film, the ill-fated Cinderella Man,
was arrested for assaulting a hotel clerk) has been relocated from
first to economy in the space of 18 months, and as a result, his
comeback vehicle, A
Good Year
is a significantly smaller – though obviously not too small, since
Ridley Scott directs it - and far less ambitious film than the fare
Crowe headlined before his fall from grace. Thing is, it’s exactly the
film the Oscar Winner needed to do – if only because it was the only
one the insurance company would back – in order to get back into
peoples good books. For the most part, it was a wise decision too….
Giving audiences a chance to rediscover Crowe’s chameleon knack for
immersing himself in a character.
Thing is, as good as Crowe is
in the movie (in fact, any movie – he is a terrific actor) and as sweet
as the story is, it’s a movie that’s as dated as hot cross buns in
December. We have seen this storyline – big time hot shot (Crowe) heads
home to simpleton where he discovers that there’s more to life than
savings and shagging - time and time before; and done better
(see Under the
Tuscan Sun
for an example of one of those films). In this case, it’s a British
broker named Max that’s about to be transformed. When his estranged
uncle Henry (Albert Finney, seen in flashbacks) dies, and neglects to
leave a will behind, Max – being the closest known relative – inherits
the man’s lavish Provence vineyard. Naturally, Max heads there with the
plan to quickly sell it… but once he gets to know the locals, and the
place, he rediscovers a new reason for living. Or something. Cue
predictably warm-and-fuzzy ‘man comes to revelation’ ending.
Sure,
there are some wonderful locations here, and there are a few wondrous
performances to back Crowe up (newcomers Marion Cotillard and Didier
Bourdon are especially superb), but even smaller films can be both
original and fresh, and sadly this one doesn’t encompass either
element.
In addition, rising Australian actress Abbie
Cornish (star of the overrated Somersault)
smudges the films pretty picture with a very incredulous performance -
as Kristy, an American girl who turns up at the vineyard claiming to be
the late owner’s daughter – that’s largely the fault of a terribly
specious American accent. Not the big Hollywood breakthrough role she
needs to have right now…. Not sounding like that, anyway.
If
you do need the attestation that Crowe’s such a good actor that he does
deserve to have his green card handed back to him (and obviously, he’s
going to have to get a hold of it real soon because he’s just snagged a
role in the pricey redo of 3:10
to Yuma – proof that things are looking up for him), or do
inherit the warm and fuzzies from the simplest of things, A Good Year is
worth a look – even if that means waiting for its Cable premiere.
3 out
of 5
A
Good Year
Australian release: 9th
November, 2006
Cast: Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Marion
Cotillard, Didier Bourdon, Abbie Cornish
Director: Ridley Scott
Website: Click
here.
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