Uncorked
John Huddles tries hard to charm audiences with his modest little American indie comedy about a kooky British clan on a sprawling northern California estate. Rufus Sewell is the would-be family entrepreneur on a financial losing streak ready to sink the last of his fortune on a failed manganese mine. His girlfriend (Minnie Driver) can't talk him out of the doomed venture and his brother is busy getting back to nature, so eccentric uncle Nigel Hawthorne climbs down from his spiritual cloud to knock some sense into his nephew: "His karma was constipated. I gave him an enema." Executive producers Driver and Hawthorne were surely drawn to the sweetly offbeat characters and hopeful message of healing in the script, but Huddles's stylistic gymnastics distract from the comedy's gentle pace and simple tone, and even these engaging performers can't buoy the film through the phony contrivances of the feel-good finale. The film has previously been released under the namesAt Sachem FarmandHigher Love.--Sean Axmaker