Film: Six years ago, Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott conquered screens together with "Gladiator". Now Scott is sending the Oscar winner into battle once again. But this time his opponents are not Teutons, but the competition on the stock exchange, his weapon is not the sword and nobility, but mobile phone and unscrupulousness. With that, Max Skinner has made it to the top as a securities broker on the London Stock Exchange. There is hardly any time for social contacts or a private life. When Max learns that his Uncle Henry (Albert Finney), with whom he once had an extremely close bond, has died, he is briefly torn from his success-oriented everyday life. The fact that he has inherited Henry's vineyard in French Provence initially feels like a huge burden to Max, as he has to fly all the way to France to get possession of the estate.
Once there, Max wants to sell the vineyard as quickly as possible. But bureaucracy and a forced vacation imposed by the bosses make him spend some time in the place to which many fond childhood memories bind him. Gradually, Max becomes enchanted by these memories and realizes why his uncle loved this estate so much. But then a young woman from California shows up claiming to be Henry's daughter, which would make her the heir apparent. And to make matters worse, the resolute waitress Fanny (Marion Cotillard) turns Max's head, which doesn't fit into his plans at all. But haven't they already changed?
Based on the bestseller "A Good Vintage" by Peter Mayles, Ridley Scott has directed an extremely light-hearted comedy, in which one aspect in particular can inspire: Provence. The wonderful landscape, which Scott once again manages to capture in a very appealing way, shapes the all-too-familiar story like hardly any other element of the film. The actors are heavily influenced in their acting by the sun-drenched beauty of Provence and as a result all deliver extremely light hearted, good humoured performances. First and foremost Albert Finney and the vivaciously enchanting Marion Cotillard, both of whom are major pluses on the cast list. Russel Crowe, on the other hand, is not completely convincing in his rather unusual role. His play seems in many moments a little too exaggerated and put on loose, which on the other hand by the arrogance of his character, embodied by him wonderfully, but just cushioned.
Because of its affinity to wine, the film is inevitably like to compare with "Sideways", probably the most beautiful "Wine film" of recent years. Yet "A Good Year" is much closer in content and atmosphere to feel-good cinema "Under the Tuscan Sun", than to Alexander Payne's loser comedy. The film isn't a masterpiece, but it's pretty to look at and sympathetically acted - nothing more, but nothing less either. What makes the film overall so interesting is that it shows Ridley Scott from a completely different side for once. Although the filmmaker has already made a foray into comedy with his completely underrated "Tricks", the "Blade Runner" and "Alien" director has never presented himself in such a light-hearted and fun-loving way and, above all, in such a bloodless manner.
"A Good Year" is a relaxing, nice movie that can warm the hearts of viewers during the cold season. The fact that the wheel is not reinvented here and Scott also leaves hardly any cliché untouched in the staging, disturbs only little in the end. Therefore, for lovers of unspectacular feel-good cinema with high romance factor should not miss this film in any case!
Picture: The wonderful landscape of Provence is very well rendered in appropriately vibrant, warm colors. Overall sharpness levels are very good and contrast levels are also at a good level. There are no artifacts or image distortions to discover and therefore can be confidently pronounced as an overall verdict a "Very Good".
Sound: Unlike usual with Scott, the home sound system has little to do with "A Good Year". Dialogue and music are well mixed, but barely convey a sense of spaciousness. Still, for a film of this genre, Scott has once again done a first-rate job (or had it done).
Extras: The foremost extra is an interactive featurette called "Postcards from Provence", which can be switched on during the film but also viewed separately. The individual elements, consisting of interviews, commentaries and behind the scenes footage, comes to a total running time of 40 minutes and certainly provides a good overview of the making of the film. But since besides this extra and a short promo talk between Scott and Crowe (approx. 2 min.), as well as three music videos of Russel Crowe and two trailers nothing more is offered, the end result is rather modest. Still: due to some interesting information provided here, the bonus material is well worth watching!
Conclusion: "A Good Year" is a nice movie. Not mind-blowingly good, but not bad either, just plain nice. The DVD realization is just as good: not overwhelmingly good, but satisfying and worth seeing! Just the right thing for balmy summer evenings! One more tip: if you know the English language, you should definitely watch the more amusing original version!
Original title: A Good Year
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Number of Discs:1
Languages: German, English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: German, English, Turkish
Image Format: 16:9 (2.35:1)
Extras: Interactive Making of Feature, Promo Interview, Music Videos, Trailer
FSK: o.A.
Length: approx. 112 min.
Regional code: 2
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
