stuart-731-231734 Critics hate this movie and it has a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes... So What!It is a lovely movie filled with the beauty of life and what should be important but often isn't.. I truely wish my life was like this and thoroughly enjoyed escaping into this world for a while..Great performances, directing & production... It feels real and that for me is exactly what this type of movie should be..

Pedskii Enjoyable feel good picture. This movie gives you a nostalgic and warm feeling. Russel Crowe plays a successful man in a hectic modern world. The death of a near relative leaves him with a vineyard i France. When he arrives to the vineyard estate many childhood memories starts a necessary inner process he hasn't dealt with yet. Marion Cotillard plays a local french waitress and a humorous romance starts between them. An overall neutral movie for those who just like to watch an easy going movie that leaves you with a small warm feeling and a small smile on your face.

Jawbox5 Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe teaming up once again to do a light- hearted romp set in the south of France. Sounds interesting. There is something admirable about directors and actors trying to tackle different genres than their usual work. Whether it is to challenge themselves or just to offer a nice change of pace. With that said, comedy is a different ball game usually. If a director or actor try their hand at comedy when they don't understand what makes it work then it can be disastrous. I'm sad to say that A Good Year is a great example of that.It's about Max, a thirty-something bond trader who is successful even though his practices are rather unethical. He's uncomfortably droll, slightly obnoxious and seems to jump from woman to woman. Gee, I think we're going to like this guy. He gets a letter that his Uncle Henry (the only actor who truly delivers here, Albert Finney) has died and his vineyard in France has been passed to Max, who flies out with the intention of a quick sale. We get some overtly sentimental flashbacks to a time when Max was a young and innocent soul. I think it's incredibly obvious where the film is going even at this early stage. His uncle gives him advice and they have great relationship, which I admit is portrayed well. Yet the flashbacks do nothing but fill in the gaps in the plot instead of actually building the characters.Of course Max is then suspended for a week and decides to stay in France to see how it goes. The biggest problem is that Max seems relatively happy in his life and any past issues are barely touched upon. He's got money, he's good at his job and the woman seem to love him. Why would he want to leave that? I doubt a potential lawsuit is enough because even he seems nonchalant about it. We get typical romance between him and a French waitress (played by the lovely Marion Cotillard). This doesn't work because Crowe and Cotillard share no chemistry, and because from a story perspective it's impossible to understand what she sees in Max that would win her over. We also get a weird sub-plot about American backpacker Christie who might be Henry's illegitimate daughter. This adds nothing to the film except some stupidly forced and hollow conflict.The films fatal flaw comes in the shape of Russell Crowe. He can't do comedy. Crowe is a fine actor, but ask him to be funny and what you get is a mess. Max should be a sly yet charming individual, someone who's imperfect but has something that might win us over. But Crowe plays him like a conceited fool. Always mumbling mild obscenities in a polite tone and totally oblivious to any pratfalls that lie around the corner. He just does the same smirking expression for the whole film and his attempts at slapstick are best described as painful. It's a horribly misplaced performance.In regards to the films 'comedy', it really baffles me. It's as if it just decides to throw all kinds of styles at you and see what sticks. Crowe's comic timing is non-existent and as a result the majority of his jokes die a quick death. The slapstick is really annoying. One scene has Max stuck in an empty pool and he keeps trying to get out but cant and it's just weird to watch because it lacks any sense of physicality or flair. You then have formulaic stuff thrown in for good measure, like a dog that hates Max for no reason and him getting frustrated over the language barrier. Finney's joke in the film's opening was the only one that got a laugh out of me. Considering the films style it didn't have to be hilarious, but it needed to be clever or subtle to be effective. Falling back on slapstick that has been done better a million times before isn't funny.Seeing as this is Ridley Scott the sole area where the film constantly delivers is the visuals. The French countryside has never looked more radiant. The way the glow of the sun is captured, the splendour of the vineyards and the graceful beauty of these small villages. It might be eye candy, but it sure is gorgeous. Yet you could easily argue that it's almost too idyllic, for the stories sake. The sun is permanently shining, the French are witty, the women are all beautiful and there's nothing to worry about. You can paint a pretty picture, but at least try to be authentic. In fact many clichés spread throughout the film with such classics as the American tourists that are idiots and the French waitress whose heart cannot be won. Haven't seen those before.By the time A Good Year draws to a close pretty much everything you assumed would happen fifteen minutes in has happened. I haven't an issue with films that are deliberately simple and light-hearted. What I have issues with is when they are not the slightest bit amusing, alluring, smart or generally entertaining. This is a film that is crying out for charm and instead we get Crowe playing a character so incompetent and insufferable that we don't care about his plight which happens to be the whole basis of the film. It's the done-to-death guy find himself in a new environment film but with much less appeal than usual. I can only hope that both director and actor learnt their lesson.

spectreqc Just saw this movie today in 2016. Was fun to see it was from another era just by the look of the cellphone Russell was using. Great french version . The dubbing was flawless , made me wonder how it sounds in the original version. Does Russell Crowe speak french ?US viewers ought to know that under french law you can not write off your offspring from your will. That's why Yves Montand was exhumed a while ago. I would just hope that one day they hire actors who are from the actual country the role calls for ?Just one scene reminded me of "Great expectation ". The script is a known one but great job from the actors and the director.