Director – Ridley Scott – 2006 – US – 12A – 118 mins
***1/2
A ruthless, successful Square Mile bond trader travels to Provence to sort out the estate he’s inherited from his late uncle – UK release date 27/10/2006
Back in the 1980s, British TV commercials spawned a number of hugely successful feature film directors, with Scott arguably the most talented. A great visual stylist, his impressive filmography includes the seminal (Alien, 1979; Blade Runner, 1982; Thelma & Louise, 1991), the blockbuster (1492: Conquest Of Paradise, 1992; Gladiator, 2000; Kingdom Of Heaven, 2005) and the forgotten (Black Rain, 1989; White Squall, 1996; G.I. Jane, 1997). Scott is perhaps the archetypal ‘style over content’ director: his impressive visuals often threaten to overpower everything else, yet his sense of style invariably makes anything he does worth a look. A film-maker, in other words, of extreme contradictions.
The end of that same era saw highly regarded London advertising man Peter Mayle relocate to the South Of France to pen a series of books about that region starting with the bestselling A Year In Provence.
Scott and Mayle have known each other since the eighties advertising boom. A Good Year is a joint project about garage wines: the press handouts report Scott telling Mayle, “You write the book, then I’ll get the film rights.”
The plot has Gladiator’s Russell Crowe as ruthless, successful Square Mile bond trader Max Skinner whose childhood Summers – featuring Freddie Highmore from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton, 2005) as Max’s younger self – were spent in the company of the irrepressible Uncle Henry (Albert Finney) on the latter’s Provence estate.
Max hasn’t seen his uncle in a decade when he learns of his death and has to travel to France to sort out the estate – which is now his under French law. A plethora of quirky and engaging characters includes a best mate / high flying estate agent (Tom Hollander), a beautiful young Californian cousin who may or may not be genuine (Abbie Cornish), a bicycling waitress love interest (Marion Cotillard) and the local vigneron along with his wife (Didier Bourdon and Isabelle Candelier).
Framed by adventures in a ruthless, cut-throat Stock Market London, the narrative is an undemanding stroll through an escapist paradise. I want to believe the Provence depicted here is this wonderful in real life, but Max and his city cronies are so seriously rich that their wealth probably colours their view of things.
Likewise, as Scott’s eye delivers Provence in gorgeous visuals of the region unrivalled in cinema, you can’t help but suspect that he’s constructing an ultimately empty, escapist dream fantasy. While I recoiled a little at the ruthlessness of its City characters, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t enjoyed my two hours inside this lovingly crafted world.
But in the end, that’s all this is: a fantasy and nothing more – albeit a pleasant enough one.
Nothing wrong with that per se, perhaps, but this is unlikely to be remembered as either definitive exercise in cinematic style like Alien or Blade Runner or touching an urgent cultural pulse like Thelma & Louise. Minor rather than blockbuster, it nevertheless remains more likeable than disposable.
Reviewed for Third Way in 2006.
Trailer: