A Good Year

Plot synopsis:
In the prologue, a young Max Skinner, whose parents have died in an accident, spends his childhood summer holidays learning to appreciate the finer things in life at his Uncle Henry's vineyard estate in Provence in south-eastern France. Some 25 years later, Max is an unethical yet very successful hard-working London-based bond trader with a sense of humour.
Following his uncle's death, Max is the sole beneficiary of the French property. He travels to Provence to prepare a quick sale. Shortly after arriving he almost knocks a local café owner, Fanny Chenal, off her bicycle as a result of his careless driving. Subsequently, he discovers that his latest City financial stunt has caused real trouble for the owners of the trading company he works for, and the CEO orders him to return to London as soon as possible.
To assist in his planned sale of the property, Max hurriedly snaps some photos and in the process falls into an empty swimming pool. He is unable to escape until Fanny Chenal, driving by and spotting his rental car, appears and turns on the water supply in retaliation. This delay causes Max to miss his flight and, having failed to report to the directors in person, he is suspended from work and trading activities for one week.
On Henry's estate, Max must deal with a gruff, dedicated winemaker, Francis Duflot, who fears being separated from his precious vines. Duflot pays a vineyard inspector to tell Max that the soil is bad and the vines worthless.
In the meantime, they are surprised by the unexpected arrival of young Napa Valley oenophile Christie Roberts, who is backpacking through Europe and claims to be Henry's previously unknown illegitimate daughter. Like Max, Christie finds the house wine unpalatable but is impressed by Max's casual offering of the boutique Le Coin Perdu ("the lost corner") vintage, noting some intriguing characteristics. Max is concerned that she might lay claim to the estate and brusquely interrogates her during dinner at the Duflot house.
Max gets updates on office politics from his assistant Gemma, who warns him of the ambitious antics of other employees. To ensure he is not usurped by Kenny, his second-in-command in London, through whom Max continues to direct trades, Max intentionally gives the ambitious young trader bad advice, getting Kenny fired.
Max becomes enamoured with the beautiful, feisty café owner Fanny, who is rumoured to have sworn off men. He successfully woos Fanny into his bed, where she leaves him the next morning, expecting him to return to his life in London.
A disillusioned Christie also decides to move on. Max finds his uncle's memoirs, which contain proof of Christie's heritage. However, he bids her farewell while handing her an unexplained note inside a book she was reading. While informing Duflot of the pending estate sale, Max learns that the mysterious expensive Le Coin Perdu was made by Henry and Duflot with "illegal vines" from the estate, bypassing wine classification and appellation laws.
The estate is sold and Max returns to London where Sir Nigel, the company chairman, offers him a choice: "Money or your life" - either a discharge settlement, which includes "a lot of zeros," or the partnership in the trading firm, where he would then be "made for life". Max asks about Nigel's art in the conference room, which Fanny has a copy of in her restaurant. Upon Nigel's dismissive comment that the real one is kept in a vault and the $200,000 copy in the office is for show, Max reconsiders if he wants to still be like Nigel.
Max invalidates the estate's sale with the farewell letter he gave to Christie, which he forged, along with real photos confirming Christie as Henry's daughter with a valid claim to the estate (as a child Max signed cheques for his uncle, and is able to replicate his handwriting and signature).
He puts his London residence up for sale and returns to Provence, entering into a relationship with Fanny. Christie also returns and she and Francis jointly run the vineyard while trying to reconcile their vastly different philosophies of wine production. Meanwhile, Max is now able to focus his entire attention on Fanny.

Tags: romantic, flashback

Review:
Like the reviews overseas,Australian critics have generally snubbed this film as bland and contrived with some nasties regarding Russell's accent and wooden comedy delivery.I thoroughly enjoyed this intoxicating film which I agree has its faults, however it succeeded in its core themes of love,friendship and beauty as being central to a well lived life.I feel Crowe does a good job as Max, an arrogant and ruthless bonds dealer who inherits a château from his Uncle Henry(Finney).
Initially interested in how much money this can make, circumstances necessitate a longer stay whereby Max begins to recall his many enjoyable Summers spent with his Uncle at the Provençal château.Marion Cotillard provides the love interest as the beautiful and tempestuous Dark French girl and young Aussie star Abbie Cornish contrasts as the fair blond Californian beauty who is Henry's illegitimate daughter.
Both perform well though I know Cornish is much more capable than this role requires.The movie is a little uneven at times as Max learns his lesson on what is truly important in life.Sometimes the comedy is light, sometimes slapstick, and all this juxtaposed with some sentimentality and more serious moments.
This is definitely the first time I have gone to see an Russell Crowe and/or Ridley Scott film at the cinema, fully bracing myself to be disappointed and...I am very pleased to be able to say that I enjoyed it thoroughly.
It's in the quieter moments where Crowe really excels and shows just why someone would want to cast him, as opposed to say Hugh Grant, in a film like this.
A Good Year is much like Peter Mayle's other books  shortish, picturesque, sometimes mouthwatering, generally light and definitely charming.To that end, this film does the book excellent justice and even manages to make the cinematic transition without losing or adding much in the process.
Aubrey  a cold power hungry cut-throat exterior with a bit of a romantic hedonist hiding a Depardieu-like charming buffoon locked inside.) Sir Ridley Scott makes it clear that the real star here is the Provencal countryside in all of its golden sun soaked glory.
Russell is the fulcrum that moves us from one beautiful scene to the next, lightly shuffling and dancing in over-sized pajamas with a suit jacket and a tie for a belt.And oddly, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.As obvious as the story line is (both in the book and the film) it remains absolutely charming and Crowe's performance is an essential part of what makes it work, hammy or no.
Craftsmanship and experience make it a palatable film.And the rest is simply a matter of taste.Though it lacks the crisp originality of a sauvignon blanc, the hipness of a pinot grigio or the bold edginess of a Cabernet, but the elements here come together to make a film that plays pleasantly over the tongue like a decent rose  easy to sip and enjoy and given the chance could well leave you with the warm glow of a late summer afternoon.But enough with the wine clichés!
So when I heard that Ridley Scott was directing Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard in a film about a money-hungry British stock-broker who is lured into giving it all up for an inherited French vineyard, I thought it would be right up my alley.To be honest, the film is so far up my alley that I felt my dreams were being violated.
As a longtime fan of Russell Crowe, I do know that he can be funny, charming, sweet and romantic, not only on film but in real life.
Ridley Scott exploit his good taste to create a charming atmosphere, in which Russel Crowe is just an extra piece of the story.
The landscapes, the Provence feeling, the interesting women, and the enchanting world of wine makes you fly between the clouds and wonder: "what if I leave my job right now and start living the real life?".
I highly recommend this movie to take you away from all the woes in this world.Again.......thanks Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott.........job well done..
This movie manages to put together a truckload of stereotypes and a bunch of annoying characters, to deliver a conventional, Cinderella-worth happy ending.It is supposed to be realistic (the ferocious financial genius, the cynical Londoners, vineyards in Frances  surely all things that exist) but at the same time conveys an idea of fairy tale and unreality.I am not sure if financial sharks of the type portrayed by Crowe actually exist.
He is played by an extremely annoying Russell Crowe, as your cliché British man: arrogant, insensitive and pompous.His love interest is raising star Marion Cotillard, going down a well-traveled road of her own- the one of the sexy, warm-hearted, spirited (and slightly slutty) French woman.Add more stereotyped characters to the mix (supplementary sexy French women; a French wine maker who hates the British; an eccentric British uncle; a snotty British secretary) and the predictable result will be the melting of the ice-cold heart of the British guy and his decision to overturn his life for the love of the French gal.This is not a spoiler as I am pretty sure everybody knows by now (or would imagine, as soon as the movie starts) how it is going to end.
Author Peter Mayle's love affair with the gorgeous Provence countryside is well known and the best thing about this movie is Ridley Scott's filming of it.
With such stellar talent as Ridley Scott, Albert Finney, and Russel Crowe, however, one expected a tad bit more.Not to say this wasn't enjoyable.
Comedy drama and Ridley Scott are not two things you would normally associate, Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott are, so teaming up again after 'Gladiator' they join forces to bring us 'A Good Year'.
Although it has lighter moments, it isn't, and I have decided that labeling noncomedy as comedy must be a Hollywood inside joke, and a bad one at that.It is actually a touching and charming love story about people and places past and present, and the battle of good over evil in our society.
personally think this film is a total change of direction for ridley scott and crowe plays a very good part.
Ridley Scott's A Good Year is a beautiful film about life and its endless bounties.
Shiner must now make a final call: to sell the property and return to London or to quit his job and settle down in Provence.A Good Year presents Russell Crowe in a very different light.
I have always been curious to see him in a light and funny comedy and when I learned that he and Ridley Scott who has directed him to the Oscar in "The Gladiator" teamed up for a romantic comedy that takes place in the vineyard of sunny Provence, in the south of France, I was very interested in seeing it.I should say that even though I had expected more from the movie, it was nice.
The best about "A Good Year" is its look - dreamy, enveloping, delightfully intoxicating - just as wine that plays such a big role in the story of Max Skinner (Russell Crowe) who one day suddenly finds himself back in the place where he used to be happy once as a boy but almost forgot the feeling having left for a huge dynamic mega polis where he has become a ruthless arrogant businessman.
Yeah totally agree that the plot summary is completed wrong the American woman just wants to know a little history of the place and the previous owner but anyways I saw a advanced screening in Melbourne at the jam factory - won free tickets thanks to me being a member of the Australian film institute- and wasn't excepting much but it was all harmless fun with some funny moments.
Director Ridley Scott takes a while to find the right rhythm for this romantic comedy, but he eventually does, even if it means recycling elements from other similarly executed fish-out-of-water films like "Baby Boom", "Lost in Translation" and "Under the Tuscan Sun".
In fact, the whole venture feels decidedly old-fashioned with formula elements feeling like they come from some Universal film made in the 1960's, but the retro-chic aspect somehow works like a fictionalized account of a lifestyle cable channel program since there is little in the way of real dramatic conflict.Atypically cast in a lighter vein here, the naturally pugnacious Russell Crowe seems to be channeling one of the Grants (Cary or Hugh, take your pick) in portraying a Machiavellian-level London investment banker named Max Skinner, who unexpectedly inherits a dilapidated château and vineyard in Provence from his uncle Henry, a figure he loved as a child but has since become estranged due to Max's selfish, greed-obsessed existence.
Better is Albert Finney as rhapsodizing Uncle Henry since his casting hearkens back to the actor's youth in south-of-France-set movies like "Two for the Road" and "The Picasso Summer" in the late sixties.Australian actress Abbie Cornish convincingly portrays a guileless American with more than a passing interest in wine, while Marion Cotillard is a stunning, feisty presence as Fanny (although the obvious age disparity between her and Crowe makes some of the back story a bit of a head scratch).
As the new owner of on aging estate in Provence, however, he is as likely to be fleeced by local vintners or irritable restaurant owners.Peter Mayle's popular travel pieces on France turned into a jaunty fiction in A Good Year, an endearing light piece about the intrigues of wine making, estate ownership, and that French staple, love.
Crowe is a fine actor, but in this film watching him attempt to do lame comedy is like Adam Sandler trying to do Shakespeare.
Sir Ridley Scott proves how versatile he is by handling a Romantic-Comedy like 'A Good Year', with such skill.
Another great collaboration between uber talented method actor Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott, the director who guided him to Oscar fame in 'Gladiator' some six years prior.Based on a Peter Mayle book, the film does the book excellent justice and even manages to make the cinematic transition without losing or adding much in the process.
Russell Crowe is fabulous as Maximillian, the cold, power hungry trader who spent summers as a lad in Provence, France with his eccentric English Uncle Henry, while learning the finer things in life.
It certainly was mine.One of the best movies of Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe.
From that extreme the characterization gradually yet noticeably and pleasantly moves to a Max (Russel Crowe in the movie) who is willing to part with his property for which he initially went all the way to deny the existence of any daughter-father relationship between the owner of the property (his deceased uncle) and a potential claimant, one who leaves his high profile trading job for a life in a vineyard.While I see a strong effort made by the director to keep this movie light there are some subtle scenes and lines that throw-up profound thoughts.
Everything works out perfectly, and it always is the story of a rich American or Brit discovering the wonderful beauty of France, learning to enjoy the good things in life, particularly the food.
For all those anticipating the re-teaming of Gladiator champs Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, look no further then the film's first ten minutes to realize that the comedy-drama, lighthearted romance genre is not either of these consummate professional's forte.
A good year is a light film.It's fun but it's mediocre.Ridley Scott is a solid director and movies like Alien or Gladiator show it.Compared to most of his movies,A good year is a little false move for him.Russel Crowe is a great actor but,on this movie,he's only correct.A good year did not bore me and it kept me fun;but one day after seeing it I forgot it.A good year is a movie to have a light and fun moment;it is not nothing memorable but it does not bore.You have to see it with low expectations.But if you wanna see a masterpiece directed by Scott,you should watch Gladiator or Alien.Rating:6.
Where films such as Brick Lane and The Namesake have depicted people of such varied cultures and backgrounds trying to come to terms with a different society/culture/climate/set of beliefs, and have done reasonably well to depict such things, A Good Year appears to be of the belief that separate sequences involving Russell Crowe rolling around in some mud and being urinated on by a dog should suffice as instances ably depicting someone out of their comfort zone.Scott's laughable ideas on how this person's adventure out and away from what he's used to are equalled only in their rank abjectness by a God-awful approach.
I fell in love with this movie.It gives you such a nice feeling of passion, risk and life generally.The landscapes are extremely beautiful, and the story is very nice, simple but captivating.Marion Cotillard and Russell Crowe look great together and they act so naturally, they almost make you feel as if you can ALSO HAVE AN ENCHANTING LOVESTORY.The thing I love most about this movie is that it has this modern, contemporary side, with London's busy economical life but also a more magical , fairy tale-like side, which maintains the charm and originality.It's not the average romance movie, it's a bit more than that.
One of the best movies in a while.It is a capture of perfect life versus story versus cinema.A story so good and so well crafted and unfolded through the eyes of Russel Crowe that made me re-watch the movie just hours after i've seen it first time.The movie itself is not only just entertainment it is a lesson about life ,about what we become when we stray ourselves from childhood,from peaceful and meaningful life,from real love ,from family and great aspects of living healthy.I had to give this movie a 10.I think it is well underrated and i would definitely recommend this one to all genders all ages...it is absoluteness !.
Ridley Scott has directed Russell Crowe in this love story that touches the heart.
What Fanny tells Max the morning she is leaving when she says: "It is your life that doesn't suit this place" and not the other way around, that is almost like a revelation to Max, because people like him are blinded by mostly greed, they don't change suddenly because they go on a trip to where they grew up.Here is a guy who is so fortunate to have had an Uncle to love him and teach him the beauty of the simple things to live a good life, to leave him this great house after his death in this intoxicating area of France where most of us dream to go, then he meets this gorgeous girl who owns a bistro and as much jaded she has become towards men yet she gives Max a chance.
There have been so many truly dreadful films along this theme (outsider moves to French vineyard and life-changing events follow) that I nearly didn't bother watching this, but luckily I overcame my prejudices.This is a beautiful story beautifully told, and undoubtedly one of Crowe's best performances.
the film a good year is a excellent movie, I have always liked as Russel Crowe acts, I liked this movie by two subjects, the first I'm studying finance and I love this career because like the film Max Skinner work in a stock market and only buy and sell bonds and this is an great business, and the other things is the wine I read the last semester all about the production and tasting about the different kind of wines, I like the red wine, and the relation with the movie was that the principal subject was the inheritance of a vineyard, a little things that I know is the country with more production is France, but the country with more kinds of grapevine is Italy where I want to travel to know more about this subject..
The people there seem warm and cheerful like Max's memories for his uncle.I simply love everything about "A Good Year"..
I finally decided to see this film because it's Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott teaming up for something new and different; a romantic-comedy-turned-romantic-drama.
Finney is wonderful as Max Skinner's (Crowe) uncle, injecting comedy and pathos into the story and the character.
It's great watching Skinner slowly changing and rediscovering himself as the story picks up and as fresh characters are (re)introduced into his life.Marion Cotillard playing the French love interest in this film is stunning and plays her part convincingly enough opposite Crowe.
Most comedy undeniably stems from Tom Hollander's scenes with Abbie Cornish (who for the record is too lovely for words here) when he gives his all as a foppish, fumbling Brit-twit displaced in Provence, the performance Russell Crowe should have emulated as Max. Marion Cotillard chips in as the local café owner/waitress in the little village with nothing novel about her performance, except the sweetest French accent ever committed to a celluloid."A Good Year" is bound to evoke comparisons of "Under the Tuscan Sun" and even if it is not entirely similar, it is not really entirely different from any film like that either.
A Good Year is a perfectly enjoyable Sunday afternoon-type movie and an interesting departure for Hollywood heavyweights Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe.
A good film but not so original as it should be.Russel Crowe acts well and the story is somehow the eternal search for the origins of the present you.The past and the people that make part of it are the things that make you think about yourself and about who you became.
Perhaps Russel Crowe is hard to accept doing light romantic comedy, which someone like Hugh Grant does so well, but look past "Gladiator" and he does a good job.