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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