A Good Year review

Here's a riddle: When is a comedy not a comedy? The answer: When it stars Russell Crowe. There is little in Crowe's resume to suggest he has a natural gift for humour. Unless of course you consider hurling a phone at a hotel employer because he couldn't get a line, funny. Didn't think so. Indeed, with his portrayals of people such as Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider and John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, Crowe's reputation has been built upon playing altogether rather serious types.

Another reason A Good Year lacks the light touch it was apparently striving for is the choice of Ridley Scott as director. When it comes to large-scale, action-packed dramas, Scott is in his element. The more quaint, intimate proportions of A Good Year represents relatively uncharted waters for the veteran British director of such films as Blade Runner and Gladiator. Adding to the film's woes is the fact that it is adapted from one of Peter Mayle's (A Year In Provence) lesser works.

A Good Year is too simplistic, predictable and unconvincing a tale. Rife with jarring coincidences and indistinct characters, screenwriter Marc Klein is unable to find a consistency of tone. At times the film feels like it's desperate to break out of its mannered whimsy and launch into broad comedy, but Crowe's efforts at slapstick just look awkward and clumsy. And when it comes to conveying his character's quantum personality leap he, and with it the film's hopes, falls in the deep end quite literally.

Crowe plays Max Skinner a power-obsessed, ego-maniacal bond trader who calls his staff "lab rats" and whose motto is, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." His unethical approach lands his company a huge fortune, but incurs the wrath of his bosses who banish him from the office for a week. Fortuitously this enforced break comes at the exact moment he hears news of his uncle's death and with it the inheritance of his French chateau and its vineyard. As a boy, the young Max (Freddie Highmore) enjoyed blithe summers with his Uncle Henry (Albert Finney) who would impose his philosophy on life and wine on the impressionable Max. “There's nowhere else in the world where one can keep busy doing so little, yet enjoy it so much.”

The words fell on deaf ears, with Max growing up and leaving France for London and the manic world of trading. When asked by his assistant Gemma (Archie Punjabi) why he lost contact with his uncle, Max snaps back, "It's probably got something to do with becoming an arsehole." An indisputable fact. Max heads to Provence with the intent of selling the chateau and its vineyard, prompted by his best friend, real estate agent Charlie (Tom Hollander). But as fond memories of his youth blend with the meeting of the beautiful Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard) he has second thoughts. Things get complicated though when, in yet another of the story's clunky twists, a young American girl, Christie (Abbie Cornish) turns up claiming to be the illegitimate daughter of the late Henry.

. In the all too brief flashbacks, the possibilities of what A Good Year might have been shine through. The most interesting character is Henry and his scenes with the young Max are the only ones that possess a genuine tender charm. Finney, and Hollander show that comedy is a natural gift, with their subtlety and timing only serving to highlight Crowe's shortcomings.

Kevin Murphy