A Good Year (2006)

My wife is a huge Russell Crowe fan. OK, maybe a Gladiator fan, to be specific. So I bought a movie on DVD called A Good Year. Now here I was thinking this was a movie about tyres, but it wasn’t. It was a movie about a spoilt stuck-up brat kid, who grew up to be a spoilt stuck-up brat adult who ran a group of stockbroking sharks (think Gordon Gecko). So this stockbroker type, who you have absolutely no affinity for, finds out he’s inherited an old house & vineyard in Provence from his old Uncle (Albert Finney). The house is full of flashback childhood memories, which are some of the nicest scenes in the movie. He visits the place (hoping to sell it), insults the locals (I think we’re supposed to be laughing through this), then finds true love and throws in the whole stockbroking thing. This film sat uncomfortably. Russell Crowe doing comedy is slightly strange, especially when the script isn’t all that funny. His character is just so annoying you wanted to punch him for being so rude (and for the script being so stupid). I could see Jude Law or any number of other English young guns playing this part. But the idea of Ridley Scott casting Russell in this role made me think the heat of the Mediterranean sun (filming Gladiator) went to his head. Ridley Scott has directed and produced a number of brilliant movies over the years. This was not one of them. I do award a few points for nice cinematography and pleasant French scenery.
The Movie Nut's Rating - 4.5 Out Of 10
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Fear and Loathing was a well and truly wacked out film. Basically, it's just one long drug trip, with incredible special effects so the movie viewer can share in the hallucinations. Although it might be fun to start with, you soon get tired of watching these two guys swallow and sniff every substance under the sun. Hunter S. Thompson wrote the famous book of the title. The main character, journalist Raoul Duke is played by Johnny Depp. His sidekick is a big Samoan lawyer, Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro). They're travelling to Las Vegas in an open top Cadillac to write a story about an off road car race. The movie outlines their incredible drug intake, trashing hotel rooms (like you've never seen before!), and bumping into some strange characters played by cameos such as Ellen Barkin and Gary Busey. The special effects include people turning into animals, carpets coming alive and bats attacking their open top car. How these guys ever took all this stuff and survived is beyond me (it is based on a true story). I don't really have much more to say about this movie. It does produce a good laugh here and there, but there is really little else to hold your interest in this tiresome drug crazed flick. I think my friend Steve actually dozed off a couple of times.
The Movie Nut's Rating - 2.5 Out Of 10
(originally posted on movies-australia.com at some point in 1998!)
IMDB Link