I've been waiting all year for an American made queer indie to rave about but haven't found it yet. In the meantime, I'll gladly settle for a non-queer one like Bottle Shock, which is going the self-distribution route. That means the film is going to need plenty of audience attention and critical hosannas ( like the one that follows ) to make it a hit—both of which it deserves.
Pictured: Eliza Dushku
in Bottle Shock.
Bottle Shock ( a term that refers to what happens to wine after it travels a great distance ) was scripted by director Randall Miller with his wife Jody Savin and is based on a true story. It follows what led in 1976 to California's Napa Valley becoming known as a world-class maker of wines thanks to a blind Paris wine-tasting contest ( the 'Judgment of Paris' ) . Alan Rickman plays Steven Spurrier, the fussy British owner of a failing wine shop in Paris who knows his wines but can't get respect from his snobby colleagues. So Steven decides to create a competition pitting French wines against those from the Napa Valley, hoping the results will put his store and himself on the map.
Spurrier arrives in Napa and roams the valley in a beat-up yellow Gremlin ( leased, apparently from Rent-a-Wreck ) . After suffering a flat tire, he makes the acquaintance of Jim Barrett ( Bill Pullman ) , a vineyard owner and former real estate attorney who is just about to go broke. Jim is helped out by his wayward hippie son, Bo ( Chris Pine ) , the local ne'er-do-well and chick magnet; and the much more adept Gustavo ( Freddy Rodriguez from TV's 'Ugly Betty' ) . A pretty blonde intern ( Rachael Taylor ) , a comely bar owner who knows her grapes ( Elizha Duzku ) and a Maria Callas-fixated winemaker ( Miguel Sandoval ) are also part of the mix.
From the start, Spurrier, a self-admitted snob, and the wary Barrett are at odds, but Bo and the others see the competition as a chance to put Napa on the map. There are plot complications galore ( a love triangle, a father-son falling-out, etc. ) but this is basically a David-and-Goliath story—and a particularly satisfying one. When things go bad for the characters ( as they inevitably do in these movies ) , it feels absolutely exhilarating when they finally turn things back around.
The movie, scored with a jaunty New Age sound by Mark Adler and '70s hits ( by the Doobie Brothers and others ) , is helped enormously by the performances of Rickman and Pullman in the leading roles. Rickman is like a modern-day George Sanders ( the actor who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in All About Eve ) . He can annihilate with a syllable ( he's the female equivalent of Judi Dench ) while Pullman is taciturn to a fault. When, at last, we see Rickman smile and Pullman realize that he's finally produced a world-class wine ( in separate sequences ) , the moments are priceless. Pine, as the young lead, is fine if not as memorable—his performance is hampered by his disfiguring shoulder-length, blond hippie wig, which is so patently fake.
When Bottle Shock comes to DVD, it's going to make a perfect pairing with Sideways—although Bottle Shock is much more accessible, much less acidic in tone and more traditionally satisfying. Basically, it's like a merlot versus a cabernet sauvignon. Because it's such a rewarding movie, it's tempting to trot out all the adjectives generally used to describe a good wine. Not being a connoisseur, I'll just say that it left me with a very pleasant buzz.
One can also expect a pleasant buzz or, rather, a contact high after sitting through the haze of Pineapple Express, the homage to stoner comedies of decades past. With the rise in popularity of adolescent adult comedies, it was only a matter of time before the stoner flick returned to the local cineplex. The cult of Judd Apatow ( who produced the movie and wrote the story, along with star Seth Rogan ) , which started with lowbrow laughs, continues to find them in this silly and flimsy ( but too-long ) film that revels in the glory of reefer madness.
James Franco plays a brain-addled dealer who describes his new special weed, called Pineapple Express, as 'God's vagina' because it's so good. Seth Rogan is his constant customer, a process server who uses disguises to get his job done. Rogan accidentally witnesses a drug killing and, soon, murderous drug dealers and bad cops are after the mismatched duo. Gary Cole, Rosie Perez and a host of expert comedic performers have small roles. Danny R. McBride is particularly funny as Red, a drug dealer who seemingly can't be killed. Franco is sweet and daffy and finally registers playing something other than his patented white-bread male ingénue while Rogan is, well, Seth Rogan—the same character he's played in his previous movies. There's not much variety or versatility in his performances but his raucous vitality scores big-time with the audience, and many of the scenes work simply because of the offbeat, unexpected chemistry between the two performers.
The movie has the same short attention span as a stoner—appropriate given that it revolves around toking up. And Franco and Rogan's characters light up in almost every scene ( although when the duo sells to a group of street-smart junior high kids, the result is funny but ultimately uncomfortable ) . The final shoot-out, however, is much too long and the buzz wears off long before the credits roll.
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is also ordering information on my book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006.
