A Good Year

One wonders why Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe felt inclined to make A Good Year, said Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle. "Perhaps the actor and director felt they owed the world a chick flick" after collaborating on the violent Gladiator. Or maybe Crowe needed to polish up his brutish image. But it's most likely that these buddies just felt like spending a little time in the South of France. That's no reason to make a movie'”buying a ticket for this lame comedy is like handing over 10 bucks to page through Scott and Crowe's vacation album. "Intelligent, informed, hip consumers are supposed to sneer at films like these," said Stephanie Zacharek in Salon.com. We know just how it will play out: The high-strung executive has forgotten to appreciate the small things, and is annoyed to inherit a crumbling Provençal country home. Then he meets the saucy village girl of his dreams, his iciness melts in the sunlight, and he learns to enjoy life again. What's wrong with that? This movie's worth it for Crowe's triumphant return to heartthrob status. Give me a break, said Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly. "Even Hugh Grant isn't doing the Hugh Grant shtick anymore." From the dreary boardroom to the amusing locals to the oenophilia, everything in A Good Year has been done before, and done better.

Rating: PG-13

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