Review of A Good Year (2006) by Michael B — 04 Mar 2010

A LOT better than I expected. Like boatloads better. It's like a much better 'under the tuscan sun'. Russell Crowe may well be a douchebag but he's actually pretty good at humanizing a deeply unlikable character, which I guess is a testament to his acting.

Marion Collitard? She looks more amazing in this movie than I think ive seen any actress look in any movie for years. Yes its unfair to address that first, but fuck - LOOK AT HER. She is kind of dazzling in ways I can't even begin to describe. It helps that she's an incredible actress too.

In this movies book London = Cold, Lonely, Heartless, Ruthless and France = Warm, Inviting, Welcoming .

I personally have to agree with that core basis, but think its sort of unfair. I mean when London appears on screen it's always a horrible grey shade, whilst france literally looks like its been bathed in gold.

I think the struggle the lead character faces is kind of relatable - he's been sucked in by work, the big city, the buzz of that, he's become a viper, because that environment definitely changes people and sometimes it's sort of an uncontrollable spiral, and the prospect of a simple life in a beautiful location - that is a dilemma many people face at some point in their lives, pursuing the career at possible personal sacrifice - or following desire on the basis of the 'simple pleasures'.

So yeah, it struck a chord I think, everything about it worked pretty well.

I guess the only criticism was that it wasn't really that funny, nor was the story that interesting. There was the ultimate plague of predictability too - we all knew the endgame very early on.

So yah, Definitely not the greatest film of all time, but good for what it was with great performances, luscious visuals and something very relatable to anyone living in a big city like London!