Review of Bottle Shock (2008) by Lesley A — 23 Feb 2009
Interesting film based on true events. In 1976, a self-proclaimed wine snob, who owned a shop in Paris visited the Napa Valley and brought back several wines to compete in a blind tasting against the best French wines, and won! This event is credited as the turning point in world wine production.
The drama of this film revolved around one of the vintners, whose Chardonnay was included in the competition. On the brink of losing everything, including his son, Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) was a hard-headed perfectionist who had given up a law career to pursue his dream.
Steve Spurrier (Alan Rickman) was the Brit who conceived the competition at the instigation of his American friend, Maurice (Dennis Farina). Radiantly beautiful Rachel Taylor, as the intern, Sam, provided the romantic tension between Jim's son Bo (Chris Pine) and Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez).
Well done piece. Some tender moments, a few chuckles, and a satisfying amount of drama. The special features has interviews with some of the real protagonists that gives more background to the story.
This review of Bottle Shock (2008) was written by Lesley A on 23 Feb 2009.
Bottle Shock has generally received mixed reviews.
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