Konterr
Brilliant and touching
Tyreece Hulme
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
MartinHafer
"There is hardly a word that is true in the script and many, many pure inventions as far as I am concerned"....Steven SpurrierSteven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) is one of the main characters in this film and the real life Spurrier thought the film was almost complete fiction. Likewise, the character Gustavo Brambila did not even work in Napa until AFTER the famed tasting in France. I also am pretty sure the one-bottle FAA limit scene never could have happened, as I carried LOTS of wine/beer in carry-ons before the recent changes due to worries about terrorism. And then there was the law office that just happened to have a spare sword lying about...so, at least from a historical standpoint, "Bottle Shock" is not a good film. And, as a retired history teacher, I was dismayed that so many instances of artistic license occurred with the movie. "Bottle Shock" was adored by many when it came out and I got around to watching it today. I was NOT as enamored with it and apart from the historical inaccuracies, I thought the characters were pretty much ALL annoying and poorly written (especially Pullman's). I can only assume that many of the folks who adored the film did so out of a sense of nostalgia for the time period and the wines. As for me, I've been on wine tours in many regions in the world (including Napa and Sonoma) but that just wasn't enough to make the film work for me. The only things that really worked were the music and cinematography. Otherwise, I just wasn't enthralled.
Claudio Carvalho
In 1976, in the Napa Valley, the perfectionist vigneron Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) is the owner of the Château Montelena that is full of debts and near bankruptcy. Jim is unsuccessfully racking his wine trying to reach perfection. He has a problematic relationship with his hippie son Bo (Chris Pine) and his Mexican foreman and connoisseur Gustavo Brambila (Freddy Rodriguez) is secretly producing wine with his father Mr. Garcia (Miguel Sandoval). Jim hires the free spirit intern Sam Fulton (Rachael Taylor) from UC Davis to help him in the production of wine. Meanwhile in Paris, the wine expert Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) that owns a specialized store has few clients. His friend Maurice Cantavale (Dennis Farina) advises him to promote his store and he decides to organize a blind tasting competition between the French and the American wines. He travels to Napa Valley to find the best American wines to bring to the dispute. He has a troubled meeting with Jim that refuses to participate in the competition. However Bo foresees the chance of survival of his father's business and gives two bottles to Spurrier. But soon he finds that the color of all the 500 bottles of chardonnay have turned into brown. Is Jim Barrett's business doomed? "Bottle Shock" is a delightful movie based on a true story. This little but charming movie is not available on DVD in Brazil but only on cable ("O Julgamento de Paris", meaning "The Paris Judgement"), but I bought the American DVD following the advice of a friend of mine from California. The story has a pleasant screenplay with entertaining subplots that might or might not really happen, such as the triangle of love among Sam, Gustavo and Bo, that keeps the plot never boring. The cast has good names associated to the beautiful locations that make this little movie worthwhile watching. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available
larry.launders
This is very much worth watching! And you don't really even need to know anything about wine to enjoy it.A wonderful story and well made film, it sets the tone early on, and gives every character a chance to tell their story, one way or another. It does very well about not going into great depth about the how and why winemakers/vintners and judges go about what they do, but you see and hear just enough about it to satisfy any curiosity.Coupled with a very good cast, this movie is also easy to watch, which adds to the enjoyability. The costuming seems to be done quite well, and a standout of the 'set dressing' to put you into 1976 is well done - particularly with the vehicles!
phd_travel
The movie could have been a lot better. This is no Sideways. There isn't much humor wit charm or drama.It's a waste because the subject matter is interesting - about how Napa wines became world class contenders. The cast is good with Alan Rickman very suited to the role. There is some attractive scenery but there should have been more.I know it's based on a true story but the screenplay isn't good. It just isn't well told and the dialog is weak. The characters and the interaction between them is very boring eg the silly yo-yo romance between Chris Pine and Taylor and the father son nonsense.It only gets interesting towards the end when the competition takes place.
