Sunday, November 12, 2006
Friday Movie Review ( late)
Went with Sheila to see the new Ridley Scott film, A Good Year, with Russell Crowe and it was OK. It had a few laughs, (mainly involving yelling 'Lance Armstrong') and a good message. It was, I suppose, romantic and gazed now and again on a lovely countryside in southern France. Like a French meal with tiny portions, it didn't fully satisfy. I think that there was not enough Albert Finney in it, at least enough Albert Finney to love him or loath him. Had he made a more solid impression, the emotional payoff at the end would have been much more substantial.
There is little doubt that Ridley Scott is a great director, but even the great have off projects time and again. After leaving TV, his first three movies were knockouts: The Duellists, Alien and Blade Runner. Other highlights are Black Rain, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. This one will not make the highlight reel.
Crowe has a deft touch with romantic comedy--who knew? However, at 42, his ability to seduce apparently any beautiful 20 something girl (even a cousin) seems a bit overblown. There has to be a time when he becomes creepy old guy. Since he's playing a guy apparently about as old as the female lead, the beautiful French actress Marion Cotillard, who is just over 30, I suppose Crowe was playing a 30 something not yet creepy old guy.
Fans of the British comedy series Coupling (alas, no longer shown on BBC America) will have recognized a standout of that series, Richard Coyle, as a rival money trader (but Coyle was such a standout, all I could see was Jeff and waited, in vain, for him to be funny). Another strong small role was estate agent Charlie (completely moonstruck by Crowe's American cousin babe) played by Tom Hollander (who was a believably bureaucratic evil in Pirates of the Caribbean II and a delightful but incredible prig in the wonderful new Pride and Prejudice). Finally, the most attractive woman in it for me was the all knowing West Asian executive assistant Gemma, played by Archie Panjabi (she was also the older sister in Bend it Like Beckham). What an intelligent dish, despite the weird haircut.
OK, who's making the the CP boutique wine? I'm sure the mystery was solved somewhere in the film but I must have missed it. The central choice presented in the movie seems to have been: Sex, money and power in London or love and the good life in Provence. No brainer. And because it's such an easy choice, the drama of the film falls flatter than a crepe.
Still, you could do a lot worse for a date movie.
There is little doubt that Ridley Scott is a great director, but even the great have off projects time and again. After leaving TV, his first three movies were knockouts: The Duellists, Alien and Blade Runner. Other highlights are Black Rain, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. This one will not make the highlight reel.
Crowe has a deft touch with romantic comedy--who knew? However, at 42, his ability to seduce apparently any beautiful 20 something girl (even a cousin) seems a bit overblown. There has to be a time when he becomes creepy old guy. Since he's playing a guy apparently about as old as the female lead, the beautiful French actress Marion Cotillard, who is just over 30, I suppose Crowe was playing a 30 something not yet creepy old guy.
Fans of the British comedy series Coupling (alas, no longer shown on BBC America) will have recognized a standout of that series, Richard Coyle, as a rival money trader (but Coyle was such a standout, all I could see was Jeff and waited, in vain, for him to be funny). Another strong small role was estate agent Charlie (completely moonstruck by Crowe's American cousin babe) played by Tom Hollander (who was a believably bureaucratic evil in Pirates of the Caribbean II and a delightful but incredible prig in the wonderful new Pride and Prejudice). Finally, the most attractive woman in it for me was the all knowing West Asian executive assistant Gemma, played by Archie Panjabi (she was also the older sister in Bend it Like Beckham). What an intelligent dish, despite the weird haircut.
OK, who's making the the CP boutique wine? I'm sure the mystery was solved somewhere in the film but I must have missed it. The central choice presented in the movie seems to have been: Sex, money and power in London or love and the good life in Provence. No brainer. And because it's such an easy choice, the drama of the film falls flatter than a crepe.
Still, you could do a lot worse for a date movie.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 8:01 AM 
