'Bottle Shock' a true underdog tale with grape expectations
What actor could possibly play a snobby, effete wine merchant better than Alan Rickman?
Let's see. Nobody!
When Rickman hoists a glass of wine and brings it to rest gently under his nose, prepare to witness a moment of pure vino ecstasy.
His nostrils flare as the bursting bouquet teases his olfactory senses. His eyes roll back into his head as nature's elixir slowly washes over his palate. Then, he swallows! And his face glows with a gratification usually reserved for exhausted lovers locked in a post-coitus embrace.
Rickman, better known to the world as Snape from the Harry Potter movies, makes the art of wine appreciation so appealing that he could usurp Orson Welles' title as Hollywood's most prominent pitch man for fermented grapes.
"Great wine is great art!" he says, as if making a TV commercial.
In Randall Miller's fact-based independent drama "Bottle Shock," Rickman plays the pivotal role of Steven Spurrier, a down-on-his-luck British wine merchant who runs a small shop in the heart of Paris. His frequent verbal jousts with an American booze mooch named Maurice (Chicago's own Dennis Farina) give him an idea to promote his business.
Why not sponsor a taste test between the finest established French wines and the audacious, up-and-coming wines from California? Spurrier knows the immature California wines don't stand a chance, but he flies to the West coast to sample the best of the region and select contenders for the great tasting.
This brings us to the Napa Valley winery of Château Montelena in 1976. A real estate attorney named Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) has put his life savings into the winery, quit his job and is now hanging on by his financial fingernails. His slacker son Bo (Chris Pine) is a classic early '70s rebel in hippie chic with unkempt hair, ripped jeans and a sour attitude toward the establishment and "the man," otherwise known as Dad.
Jim doesn't understand why Bo won't help the family business, which is about to go under because of heavy debt and Jim's absolute insistence that every single winemaking step be perfect, no matter what the time or money cost. Bo would rather hang out with his friends, especially a sexy new wine intern named Sam (Racheal Taylor), who could be the Meg Ryan of her generation.
If you have no clue what happens at the climactic wine-tasting contest in France, then you're not a true American patriot.
But how "Bottle Shock" tells its story is the amazing part. Miller, with a script by himself, wife Jody Savin and Ross Schwartz, takes a classic sports underdog drama, drops the sports part, and puts wine in its place. Hey, it may not be "Rocky" or "Sideways," but as a crowd-pleasing history lesson in American can-do spirit, it pops the cork.
A romantic triangle between Bo, Sam and a feisty young winemaker named Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez) feels like a tacked-on, superfluous subplot. Some of the dialogue sounds curdled. ("I'm a loser!" Bo bellows. "Yeah, but you've got a good heart," Sam says.)
"Bottle Shock" is a slick-looking movie with Mark Adler's score finding the right emotional notes to set off each scene.
Wine aficionados may flock to this movie for obvious reasons. Movie fans should do it just to see Rickman's unbottled performance as an ultimate sneering British snob. How many actors could get away with describing a sip of wine as "like inhaling birth"?
Note: "Bottle Shock" opens only at five theaters today, but it expands into Northwest suburban theaters next Friday.
"Bottle Shock"
Rating: 3 stars
Starring: Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Chris Pine, Dennis Farina
Directed by: Randall Miller
Other: A Roadside Attractions release. At the River East and Century Centre in Chicago, Evanston CineArts 6, Renaissance Place in Highland Park and Glenview's Glen 10. Rated PG-13 for drug use, language, sexual situations. 110 minutes.