Bottle Shock

2008's BOTTLE SHOCK is loosely based on the true story of a British sommelier and all-around insufferable wine snob who in 1976 travels to Napa Valley in California, certain that American wines are far inferior to those of the French. Mr. Steven Spurrier, played by the wonderful Alan Rickman, owns a wine shop in Paris which only seems to have one patron, Maurice (Dennis Farina), a Midwest transplant who samples a bit too much and owns the travel agency next door. The lack of business inspires Spurrier to host a blind taste-test among eight Parisian judges who are also certain that California vintages don't hold a candle to their beloved grapes.

Spurrier bumbles his way through the Napa countryside in a rented Gremlin, meeting struggling vintner Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) after he suffers a flat tire. Barrett immediately dislikes the foreigner, who does nothing to hide his contempt for American wine. But damned if that Barrett, overseer of Chateau Montelena, doesn't make a nice Chardonnay. After a taste, Spurrier maintains his stiff upper lip and goes about the town to find would-be competitors for his competition. It's just as well with Barrett, who wants no part of it, suspicious that the visitor only seeks to humiliate him back home, on the U.S.'s Bicentennial no less!

The materials for a witty retelling are there, but writer/director Randall Miller really drops the ball with BOTTLE SHOCK. Actually, the whole thing just seems ill-conceived. I was expecting a sophisticated comedy of manners with liberal glimpses into the fascinating business of wine-making. Instead, this movie focuses mostly on Barrett's aimless son, Bo (Chris Pine, wearing a ridiculous wig that is like an amateur version of Brad Pitt's mane in LEGENDS OF THE FALL), a would-be heir to the family business who, like other footloose mid-70s teens, would rather just get drunk and screw. To establish what a bum he is, the film has him walk in with a surfboard as his father chews him out for being so unambitious. You know, just to hammer home that point. Never mind that the Pacific Ocean is not exactly around the corner from Napa.

Also building the running time are the introduction of a babealicious intern named Sam (Rachael Taylor, who also arrives with a flat tire), and Bo's friend and co-worker Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez), who is secretly concocting his own home grown wine with his father (Miguel Sandoval), who tears up while sipping and listening to Maria Callas records on his porch. The distracted script provides an unnecessary and uninteresting love triangle among the youths, and unsatisfactory character development of Barrett, though Pullman does his best. Miller (and several co-screenwriters) litter their movie with endless contrivances - including Barrett's late hour reconsidering of a return to his old law firm when things look grim for the vineyard.

BOTTLE SHOCK should've focused primarily on Spurrier; Rickman knocks off the part with ease and seeming effortlessness. He's far more interesting than any of the other characters. His scenes with Farina (doing his usual brash persona thing, if a bit more effeminately) have more spark than anything else.

But the movie is still entertaining and easy to watch. Michael Ozier's cinematography is crisp and the soundtrack has some nice 70s MOR, including several Doobie Brothers tunes (some big hits, others deep album gems). I just wanted something more erudite. The subject deserves it. Perhaps if this had been a British or French production.......