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BOTTLE SHOCK Send This Review to a Friend
I still prefer French wine. However, “Bottle Shock” is a pleasant movie based on a true story of how a 1976 blind tasting in France resulted in honors going to a California vineyard instead of to the French and thereby contributing to the ascent of California wines and opening the door to wider popularity for wines from other parts of the globe. That part of the tale is the best aspect of “Bottle Shock,” unfortunately also rooted to a clichéd father-son tale of estrangement and coming together, a bit of romance and other elements making for a contrived screenplay with respect to the personal issues. You won’t find the pleasures of “Sideways” in this opus. However, there is a story to be told and “Bottle Shock” covers the main territory intriguingly.
The setup involves Alan Rickman putting on airs as the haughty Steven Spurrier, who arranges the French tasting in an effort to broaden the horizon. He goes to California to search out possibilities and focuses on Bill Pullman as Jim Barrett, who left a law firm to take the gamble of following his dream of winemaking. Other characters include his hippie-like son Bo, played by Chris Pine, a pretty intern named Sam (Rachael Taylor), and a knowledgeable employee, Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez).
Directed, written and edited by Randall Miller, the film has an easygoing tone, at least until it looks as if Barrett has failed miserably, and then the melodrama sets in. Along the way one learns something about technical aspects of winemaking and the possibility of being misled. There is also the amusing scene of experts tasting an assortment of wines and spitting the wine into their little buckets, sometimes with disdain.
If only the personal elements could have been handled better. A Freestyle Releasing release.
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