A Good Year is Ridley Scott’s latest film. Once again, he’s working with Russell Crowe who plays Max, a bond trader in London. Max inherits a large Provencal house with its attendant vinyard. As a tough, cruel money-making man, he doesn’t suffer fools and his immediate response is to sell the place for as much cash as possible. But things take a turn, and not everything goes to plan.
Oh. Did I mention that this is a comedy? It’s not obvious at first as you’re not sure quite what Crowe’s trying to do.
Well at least that’s what it tries to be. I think that it’s possible that this could have been a charming gentle comedy. Indeed that’s the way a lot of the other actors play it. But nobody seems to have told Crowe, who plays it for non-too-subtle laughs. Indeed it’s often like he’s in another film altogether. Actually it’s unfair to lay all the blame at his feet since Ridley Scott is the man who’s directed this film and he seems to have watched a few too many Carry On’s and Pink Panther’s. There’s actually a sequence with Crowe driving where they speed up the film – always a bad sign.
The scenery’s spectacular, but the film is from so. A big disappointment.
Oh, and is it compulsory for all films set in London to feature the Gherkin? Crowe’s offices are actually based in it, and there seems to be an awful lot of wandering around Picaddilly Circus which is nowhere near the city.