KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * *
Russell Crowe has teamed up with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for their second collaboration, A Good Year. Perhaps a good excuse to spend a few months in picturesque Provence, where Scott has a vacation home and vineyard, both men have lightened up considerably for this romantic comedy about a man who discovers there's more to life than money and work.
Max Skinner's (Crowe) life in London is very clinical, impersonal and work-focused. An orphan since childhood, Max has no immediate family, just hard-faced ambition as an investment trader, and a lack of commitment to relationships.
When his only living relative Uncle Henry dies, Max inherits his beautiful, charmingly shabby, French chateau and vineyard.
While most of us would be absolutely thrilled to inherit Henry's idyllic life's work, Max carries the guilt of not talking to him for 10 years, even though Henry is responsible for Max's only happy childhood memories. During their summers together, Henry would impart worldly wisdom to Max, and these moments are captured in sweet and humorous flashbacks with Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) playing Max, and Albert Finney as the charming, witty and womanising Henry.
Ethically questionable behaviour at work sees Max conveniently suspended for a week, and he travels to France to settle and sell the estate; which also gives him just enough time to reassess his life, and fall in love with a local feisty restaurateur Fanny (Cotillard), who has sworn off men.
The script, written by Marc Klein (Serendipity) and Peter Mayle from his best-seller A Year in Provence is full of fast, witty throw-away lines, which Crowe manages to pull off slightly better than his English accent. There is a sense of old-school England in the costumes, and French slapstick in the comedy. While Highmore and Finney are delightful together, some of the film's funnier moments come from supporting characters such as Isabelle Candelier's Madame Duflot, Max's French housekeeper, and her ancient father-in-law who is still dragged out to work.
Scott has shot Max's life in London in cold steely blues to highlight his loveless life, while the images of France are in soft golden tones, the colour of sentimental memories - which is all a bit saccharine and obvious for true Scott fans.
Crowe seems to be one of those actors who manages to polarize audiences, more due to his off-screen performances than on-screen, but he's easily watchable and forgettable in A Good Year. Perhaps because he plays both a self-confessed asshole and a good guy - something the audience can relate him to.
Forget that this is a film about a man's epiphany about what's important in life, and enjoy it for its lighthearted moments, slapstick comedy, but most of all its divine locations. For those who dream about retiring to the French countryside, this film will have you drooling.
Cast: Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, Didier Bourdon, Abbie Cornish
Director: Ridley Scott
Running time: 117 mins
Rating: M, offensive language
Screening: SkyCity cinemas, Hoyts and Berkeley
Verdict: Gladiator team take off to French countryside for very pleasant mid-life crisis
