Plot
Gladiator duo Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe re-team for this adaptation of author Peter Mayle's best-selling novel about a London-based investment banker who relocates to Provence in hopes of selling a small vineyard he has inherited from his recently deceased uncle. As a child, Max Skinner (Freddie Highmore) was taught to appreciate the finer things in life while wandering the vineyard estate of his sophisticated uncle Henry (Albert Finney). Life has a strange way or turning out how you least expect it to though, and 25 years later, Max (Russell Crowe) is now a prosperous moneyman wheeling and dealing in the cutthroat world of London business. When Max learns that Henry has recently passed away and that he has been named the sole beneficiary of his late uncle's modest estate, the keen businessman hastily arranges a flight to France in order to assess the value of the old property and get it prepped for sale. After Max arrives to find the vineyard in a crumbling state of disrepair, his troubles are further compounded by the stubbornness of gruff estate winemaker M. Duflot (Didier Bourdon) and the unexpected arrival of a determined California beauty named Christie (Abbie Cornish), who presents herself as a long-lost cousin while making a dubious claim to Henry's estate. Meanwhile, the overstressed Max reluctantly finds himself falling for local café owner and town siren Fanny (Marion Cotillard), whose formidable guard is quickly worn down by the smitten beneficiary. ~ Jason Buchanan, RoviReview
It's not entirely clear what director Ridley Scott and star Russell Crowe were trying to accomplish with A Good Year. If the frequent collaborators wanted to prove they were capable of making a sentimental comedy, they've done that well enough. But A Good Year is so different from their typical interests that it begs the question: what drew them to the project in the first place? Crowe plays a merciless British trader discovering his humanity among the vineyards and local color of Southern France, and he does so with his usual competence -- even showing a knack for physical comedy. But such a frivolous diversion, from two such serious heavyweights, feels even less substantial than it would in other hands, almost like they're slumming. As Crowe drives through the countryside in a comically small Smart car, needling French bicyclists by shouting out "Lance Armstrong!" and flipping them the bird, it seems like he and Scott are stealing pages from the playbooks of other broad culture-clash comedies, which audiences might have assumed were beneath them. They've made a perfectly decent addition to a genre in which "perfectly decent" is usually good enough. One good reason to see A Good Year is the charming performance by future Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as Crowe's love interest -- even though, it should be said, he doesn't do enough to deserve her, and her long disappearances from the narrative call into question screenwriter Marc Klein's structural instincts. While viewers will undoubtedly find themselves seduced by the marvelous French countryside, they shouldn't use that as a reason to over-praise this particular film's vintage. ~ Derek Armstrong, RoviCast
- Russell Crowe - Max Skinner
- Albert Finney - Uncle Henry
- Marion Cotillard - Fanny Chenal
- Abbie Cornish - Christie Roberts
- Didier Bourdon - Francis Duflot
- Tom Hollander - Charlie Willis
- Freddie Highmore - Young Max
Credit
Frederick Evard - Art Director, Robert Cowper - Art Director, Samuel Cohen - Boom Operator, Antoinette Boulat - Casting, Jina Jay - Casting, Nick Ingman - Conductor, Erin Upson - Co-producer, Catherine Leterrier - Costume Designer, Michael Castellano - Costume Designer, Darin John Rivetti - First Assistant Director, Ridley Scott - Director, Dody Dorn - Editor, Robb Sullivan - Editor, Julie Payne - Executive Producer, Branko Lustig - Executive Producer, Lisa Ellzey - Executive Producer, Anita Burger - Hair Styles, Gioncarlo De Leonardis - Hair Styles, Daniele Perosillo - Hair Styles, Alessio Pompei - Hair Styles, Marco Giacalone - Location Manager, Thierry Zemmour - Location Manager, Alex Gladstone - Location Manager, Linzi Baltrunas - Location Manager, Bruce Fowler - Composer (Music Score), Marc Streitenfeld - Composer (Music Score), Marc Streitenfeld - Musical Direction/Supervision, Melissa Lackersteen - Makeup, Alessandra Sampaolo - Makeup, Pascale Bouguiere - Makeup, Raffaella Iorio - Makeup, Carla Vicenzino - Makeup, Joerg Widmer - Camera Operator, Sonja Klaus - Production Designer, Philippe Lesourd - Cinematographer, Ridley Scott - Producer, Peter Cobbin - Recording, Geraldine Serafini - Research, Paul Massey - Sound Mixer, Doug Hemphill - Sound Mixer, Jean-Paul Mugel - Sound/Sound Designer, David Oliver - Stunts, Caroline Bouffard - Stunts, David Forax - Stunts, Jules Madi - Stunts, Kzenia Zarouba - Stunts, Alexis Boutiere - Stunts, Alain Gaudiard - Stunts, Philippe Guegan - Stunts Coordinator, Steven Warner - Special Effects Supervisor, Branko Lustig - Unit Production Manager, Mark Allan - Unit Production Manager, Emily Stillman - Unit Production Manager, Remi Bergman - Unit Production Manager, Keith Whale - Unit Production Manager, Marc Klein - Screenwriter, Eric Leblond - Production Assistant, Pascal Jouval - Production Assistant, Marc Garetto - Production Assistant, Wes Sewell - Visual Effects Supervisor, Christopher Assells - Sound Effects Editor, Dino R. Dimuro - Sound Effects Editor, Peter Staubli - Sound Effects Editor, Dan Hegeman - Sound Effects Editor, Kerry Ann Carmean-Williams - Sound Effects Editor, Joel Silverman - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Ernie Malik - Unit Publicist, Judi Dickerson - Dialogue Consultant, Marco Sacerdoti - First Assistant Camera, Leah Striker - First Assistant Camera, Tristan Favre - First Assistant Camera, Franck Barrault - Gaffer, Harry Wiggins - Gaffer, Paul Hatchman - Grip, Francois Bert - Key Grip, Del Spiva - Music Editor, Christopher Benstead - Music Editor, Teresa Kelly - Post Production Supervisor, Laurence Coutaud-Garnier - Production Coordinator, Fiona Garland - Production Coordinator, Matt Foster - Properties Master, Nick Turnbull - Properties Master, Nikki Clapp - Script Supervisor, Anthony Wilcox - Second Assistant Director, Emilie Cherpitel - Second Assistant Director, Ricardo Torres - Still Photographer, Per Hallberg - Supervising Sound Editor, Karen Baker Landers - Supervising Sound Editor, Fred Stahly - ADR Editor, Kimaree Long - ADR Editor, Charleen Richards-Steeves - ADR Mixer, Lydie Rugiero - Art Department Assistant, Camille Janbon - Assistant Costume Designer, Philip D. Morrill - Assistant Sound Editor, Tony R. Negrete - Assistant Sound Editor, Yvan Quehec - Best Boy Electric, Philippe Janois - Best Boy Grip, Gil Fontbonne - Best Boy Grip, Stephane Cressend - Buyer, Frederick Hauss - Camera Loader, Dixie Chassay - Casting Assistant, Kasia Krynska - Casting Assistant, Lee Croucher - Costumes Supervisor, John Stuver - Dialogue Editor, Patrick J. Foley - Dialogue Editor, Celine Kelepikis - First Assistant Editor, Debra L. Tennant - First Assistant Editor, Alicia Stevenson - Foley Artist, Dawn Fintor - Foley Artist, Dicken Warner - Greensman, Hayat Oulet Dahhou - Key Hairstylist, Fabrizio Sforza - Key Make-up, Helen Olive - Personal Assistant, Natascha Maksimovic - Personal Assistant, Jordan Sheehan - Personal Assistant, Keith Rodger - Personal Assistant, Bruno De Oliva - Personal Assistant, Andrea Bichi - Personal Assistant, Matt Dalton - Production Accountant, Maureen "Mo" Crutchfield - Production Accountant, Bernard Lamy - Production Accountant, Basil Smith - Second Assistant Camera, Lionel Pedro - Second Assistant Camera, Eliot Mathews - Second Second Assistant Director, Celine Collobert - Set Dresser, Frederic Millet - Set Production Assistant, Bonnie Pires - Set Production Assistant, Gerry Gore - Transportation Captain, Stephan Arnoux - Transportation Captain, Barbara Perez Solero - Set Decorator, Peter Mayle - Book Author, Ivan Dumas - Cable Person, Toby Eedy - Clapper Loader, Jim Passon - Color Timing, Locafete - Craft Service/Catering, Antoine Pautrot - Craft Service/Catering, Joelle Cugny - Craft Service/Catering, Berenice Moliere - Craft Service/Catering, Julian Bucknall - Focus Puller, Gary Burritt - Negative Cutter, Segolene Amice - Production Secretary, Amelia Price - Production Secretary, Scott Eaton - Runner, Samuel Garcin - Runner, Larry Eydmann - Set Medic/First Aid, John Gibbs - Set Medic/First Aid, Chris Jargo - Supervising ADR Editor, Tarik Ait Ben Ali - Third Assistant Director, Gregory Pagnier - Video Assist, Carlos Herranz Merino - Video Assist, Coralie Lew - Graphic Design, Amy Simons - Art Department Coordinator, Yon Van Kline - Assistant Editor, Emily Aulagnon - Assistant Editor, Emmanuel Fleury - Assistant Editor, Derek Reddington - Standby Carpenter, Ncent Lefeuvre - Assistant Unit Manager| A Good Woman (2004 Film), A Good Sport (1984 Film) | |
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