Starring Bill Pullman, Alan Rickman. Written by Jody Savin, Randall
Miller. Directed by Randall Miller. (14A) 108 min. Opens Aug 6.
By sweetening and simplifying the true story of how California’s wine industry made a historic impact on French palates in 1976, Bottle Shock ends up tasting more like nondescript plonk than the pride and joy of the Napa Valley. It’s unfortunate since the tale itself is plenty intriguing. Director Randall Miller’s film recaps how British ex-pat vintner Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) came to Napa to find the best wines in the then-little-respected region before presenting them in Paris in a blind tasting. Among the Californians he meets is Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), a financially troubled winemaker whose grumpy perfectionism puts him into conflict with his longhair son Bo (Chris Pine).
The sun-dappled ’70s setting and preponderance of Doobie Brothers songs on the soundtrack briefly raise hopes that Bottle Shock will turn out like the mash-up of Sideways and Yacht Rock we’ve long dreamed of seeing. Alas, the experience is soured by Miller and Jody Savin’s rambling yet over-calculated script, which portrays this battle between unpretentious American pluck and Olde European snobbery in the broadest possible strokes. And what with so many characters rhapsodizing about the greatness of Jim’s Chardonnay, it’s hard to not to feel like the price of the movie ticket would be better spent on a decent bottle.