In 1976, America celebrated -- in grand style - the 200th anniversary of its defeat of the British military as well as over a certain European arrogance toward the North American upstart. Of course, then as now, the Brits and Americans are best buddies, but who knew that the Bicentennial would also mark yet another battle by the Americans versus a different European power.
Granted, it was on a smaller scale, although the ramifications would also shake the world, at least regarding that of wine connoisseurs around the globe. And that's when an upstart Napa Valley vineyard ended up challenging the far better established and powerful French wines in, obviously enough, a taste test.
The rest, as they like to say, is history, and the tale of that battle of the grapes now arrives in theaters packaged as "Bottle Shock." While the surprise success of 2004's "Sideways" no doubt helped this little film get made, sold and eventually distributed, the two flicks are, shall we say, of different vintages.
Alexander Payne's flick was a character study about two unlikely friends in midlife crisis mode where wine served as an interesting backdrop and metaphor regarding what they were experiencing. Here, writer/director Randall Miller and co-writers Jody Savin and Ross Schwartz have essentially taken the true-life story and turned it into something of a sports flick.
With goals, setbacks, family dynamics, romance, montages, the big speech and, of course, the pivotal competition at the end, the pic easily could have substituted most any sport for the wine. Not being knowledgeable in the slightest about the true story, I can't say how much is fact and how much is fiction. Yet, there's no denying that the yield nevertheless feels quite familiar, predictable and formulaic, just like most any entry in that other dramatic genre.
As concocted by the filmmakers, the film essentially consists of two distinct but related storylines that obviously end up running into each other. The conventional one features Bill Pullman and Chris Pine as a father and son winemaking duo who clash about most everything, while their vineyard faces mounting bills and the distraction of a pretty intern (Rachel Taylor) who draws the interest of both the son and his best friend, the local wine savant (Freddy Rodriguez). Theirs is the classic underdog tale and will likely have patriotic American audiences rooting for their success.
The more interesting half of the story, however, concerns the always delightful Alan Rickman in full sardonic mode as a snobby Brit running a wine shop in Paris. Just about as unsuccessful as his counterparts in the other part of the film, he similarly is looking for a hit, and thinks he's found it when his American expatriate friend (Dennis Farina) stops mooching long enough to suggest that the connoisseur check out the American wines from Napa.
Rickman could make a film about a lone grape entertaining just by his honed thespian abilities. Yet, while the filmmakers occasionally give him some delightful dialogue with which to work, the overall effort lacks the wit and finesse found in that previous wine-related pic, thus letting him down a bit.
The same holds true regarding when his fish out of water subplot (step right up and watch the Brit experience Americana, such as eating Kentucky Fried Chicken and guacamole for the first time) starts repeatedly bumping into the small-town sports flick elements of the other half.
While it is fairly easy to watch and does come off as decently entertaining, the result isn't quite as tasty or full-bodied as one probably imagined it could have been. Aside from Rickman's presence, this is more of a pedestrian offering than the 2004 "Sideways" that just felt smoother and went down a bit easier. "Bottle Shock" rates as a 5 out of 10.
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