Review of Bottle Shock (2008) by Shawne ~ — 25 Dec 2008

There's a reason that [b]Bottle Shock[/b] hasn't managed to find a wider audience or distribution beyond the film festival circuit. Some might call it a poor man's [i]Sideways[/i] - where that film stayed a nose ahead of the zeitgeist, sparking off an interest in wine and all things vintage as it collected awardafter award, [b]BS[/b] charmed rather than astounded, told a simple story about the joys and drama of [i]making [/i]rather than [i]appreciating [/i]wine... and, oh yes, simply couldn't quite rise above its simple, down-home charms to win over the critics that would have fuelled its expansion beyond a certain arthouse audience.

The film tells a story of a wine tasting that went down in history as far as the wine industry is concerned. Previously dominated by French wines, the entire business received a nasty shock way back in 1976 when an upstart winemaker in the Napa Valley proved that America could grow and cultivate grapes just as well as their European counterparts. Character actors Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman take the leads: the former as the hardworking, hopeful Jim Barrett, who has gambled his life savings, job and marriage on an endeavour that seemed doom to fail; the latter as wine aficionado Steven Spurrier, who wanted to give his little wine shop a boost by bringing in wines from exotic locales... only to wind up shaking the wine business to the core.

For what it is, [b]BS[/b] is a perfectly watchable, entertaining film - there are some nicely-drawn observations about Jim's insistence on perfection, his stubborn, proud devotion to his craft almost beyond reason. It's his restless son Bo (Chris Pine), for instance, who has to provoke his father into venturing outside of his comfort zone, into borrowing money and taking part in competitions Jim is never certain his humble wine can win. The performances are generally impressive across the board, particularly from old hands like Pullman - who manages to hold the audience's sympathy far beyond what can be expected (given Jim's hardheaded refusal to [i]be[/i] a sympathetic character) - and Rickman (whose ability to portray a character at once sarcastic, arrogant and genuinely likeable remains unrivalled).

The trouble is that the film, at 110 minutes, is far too long for its slight storyline. In fact, the first half is almost painfully self-absorbed, dealing in the minute dramas between Bo and his best mate Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez), both in love and in wine-making. The wine-tasting feels interminable, the interactions between characters pointless... in fact, [b]BS[/b] never really feels like it hits its stride until the second half, when the film crystallises around the upcoming competition and the stakes, hopes and dreams of the characters become far clearer. At that point, the film becomes something akin to a thriller. Even if you [i]know[/i] the outcome, the twists and turns that the Barretts' wine takes on its path to the competition ('bottle shock' being a reference to the debilitating effects of travel on vintage bottles of wine) are fun to watch and experience.

Much like the arduous process of wine-making itself, [b]BS[/b] is a film that takes a little [i]too [/i]long to get going - but, once it has set about testing your patience, [b]BS[/b] proves to be a sweet, charming experience. Far from brilliant, but perfectly serviceable.