A Good Year

An accomplished caress for the slightly gloomy soul (successfully tested today). What I particularly liked about the film was the nice humor and the fact that there is no downright negative character in the story (I was expecting some type of greedy winemaker who would try to fool the main character). Nice. As for the female characters, I liked the sympathetic Archie Panjabi as much as Marion Cotillard, or maybe even a little more. Wonderful soundtrack (especially the songs). (25/05/2013)

Now I'm going to repeat myself a little, but it's necessary. I don't like Ridley Scott and I try to avoid his films, even though I know I have to watch them at some point. However, I was still looking forward to "A Good Year". Mainly because of two factors. It's a film about wine and it also stars Russell Crowe. I never sought him out either, but I had to completely change my opinion. "A Good Year" once again showed me what a great actor he is. Ridley Scott showed me that from time to time he really makes something worth watching. "A Good Year" is not as much about wine as I expected, but I simply fell in love with the way the film was made, which is more French than American or English. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/02/dobry-rocnik-2006-80.html (09/04/2013)

Though A Good Year is a modest little film, it is one of the best in Ridley Scott’s filmography in terms of fulfilling its objectives. There is nothing for which to fault this film. It doesn’t overdo anything, it’s pleasant and positive, and it makes full use of Russell Crowe’s acting skill and charisma. The poetics of the setting (camera filters, music) uniquely complement the intimate story, with the added bonus of sensitive and intelligent humor. (17/01/2007)

I didn’t expect that A Good Year would captivate me so. I’m not too keen on wine and Russell Crowe (despite being an outstanding actor) isn’t one of my favorites. Nevertheless, it happened. Probably it was the allure of charming France, beautiful women and beautiful landscapes. Provence is just enchanting. And Ridley Scott takes advantage of it. Memories of childhood and nostalgia are almost tangible in every shot. In my opinion, collaboration between Ridley and Russell worked out even better than in Gladiator. (15/09/2007)

This is how you recongnise a good director. Scott has shown us here (and not for the first time) that he has no problem shifting from blockbuster budgets and earnings, big historical themes and megalomaniacal quests to smaller stories about real people, who admittedly have somewhat unusual moments, but we still can fully believe them. A Good Year is very a human story that caresses the soul with its easygoing, sometimes even salubrious atmosphere of sunny vineyards, refined British humour and above all Russell Crowe's acting, which is no worse than in Gladiator or A Beautiful Mind. Story-wise, it’s nothing extraordinary, it’s just wading the waters of the hackneyed theme of moral redemption by the influence of a beautiful setting full of even more beautiful memories, but what I appreciate all the more is the work of Scott, who once again managed to squeeze every last drop of both Crowe's performance and, this time, all the ripe wine out of a slightly rotting and almost empty warehouse. 85% (22/07/2014)