Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 11/10/06 Home Video Not Available MPAA Rating Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual content Running Time 1 hour 58 minutes Genre Drama Director Ridley Scott Writer Marc Klein Cast Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Abbie Cornish, Marion Cotillard, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Didier Bourdon, Tom Hollander, Freddie Highmore Studio 20th Century Fox |
A GOOD YEAR
SYNOPSIS
Oscar®-winner Russell Crowe reunites with
"Gladiator" director Ridley Scott in A GOOD YEAR, a
Fox 2000 Pictures presentation of a Scott Free
production. London-based investment expert Max
Skinner (Crowe) moves to Provence to sell a small
vineyard he has inherited from his late uncle. Max
reluctantly settles into what ultimately becomes an
intoxicating new chapter in his life, as he comes to
realize that life is meant to be savored.
A GOOD YEAR is based on the best-selling novel of
the same name by Peter Mayle. (Mayle and Ridley
Scott, who are longtime friends, together came up
with the idea for the novel.) Scott produces from a
screenplay by Marc Klein. The film also stars the
esteemed Albert Finney as Max's late Uncle Henry,
who imparts wisdom to his young nephew; Marion
Cotillard ("A Very Long Engagement") as a café
owner who catches Max's eye; Abbie Cornish
("Sommersault") as Max's supposed long-lost
cousin, who may hold the vineyard's title rights;
Tom Hollander ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Man's Chest") as his best friend; and Freddie
Highmore ("Finding Neverland") as the young Max.
Oscar®-winner Russell Crowe reunites with
"Gladiator" director Ridley Scott in A GOOD YEAR, a
Fox 2000 Pictures presentation of a Scott Free
production. London-based investment expert Max
Skinner (Crowe) moves to Provence to sell a small
vineyard he has inherited from his late uncle. Max
reluctantly settles into what ultimately becomes an
intoxicating new chapter in his life, as he comes to
realize that life is meant to be savored.
A GOOD YEAR is based on the best-selling novel of
the same name by Peter Mayle. (Mayle and Ridley
Scott, who are longtime friends, together came up
with the idea for the novel.) Scott produces from a
screenplay by Marc Klein. The film also stars the
esteemed Albert Finney as Max's late Uncle Henry,
who imparts wisdom to his young nephew; Marion
Cotillard ("A Very Long Engagement") as a café
owner who catches Max's eye; Abbie Cornish
("Sommersault") as Max's supposed long-lost
cousin, who may hold the vineyard's title rights;
Tom Hollander ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Man's Chest") as his best friend; and Freddie
Highmore ("Finding Neverland") as the young Max.
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
Confident and cocky, headstrong and handsome, Max Skinner is a successful London banker who
specializes in trading bonds. A financial barracuda on the banks of the Thames, Max devours the
competition in his efforts to conquer the European market. His latest conquest has netted a tidy seven-
figure profit, much to the chagrin of his Saville Row-draped rivals. Max's triumph is in perfect keeping with
his philosophy: winning isn't everything, it's the only thing!
Soon thereafter, Max receives word from France alerting him to sad news: his elderly Uncle Henry has
passed away. Max, Henry's closest blood relative, is the sole beneficiary of his estate, which includes a
Provençal chateau and vineyard, La Siroque, where Henry cultivated grapes for over thirty years.
Max travels to the chateau where he spent his boyhood summers vacationing with his eccentric uncle,
whom he hasn't seen or written to in years. While Max tends to the legal affairs of his inheritance, he is
suspended from his firm, pending an investigation into his questionable bond transaction.
With his future in London in flux, Max reluctantly begins settling into life at the chateau. He reunites with
the chateau's longtime vigneron, Francis Duflot (still tending the vines after three decades), whom Max
remembers from his boyhood visits. Duflot's exuberant wife, Ludivine, the estate's housekeeper, warmly
welcomes Max back.
Max is uncertain as to whether life in the South of France suits him. He rings up his best friend, London
realtor Charlie Willis, to inquire as to what a small chateau and winery like La Siroque would command on
the current market. Charlie advises Max that small wineries with a good product can bring several million
dollars, as boutique wine, made in small batches, is the rage in wine shops. It's money in the bank for Max
should he lose his job.
As Max fondly embraces the memories of summers past (spent with a man whose wisdom and
philosophy helped Max chart his successful career) while contemplating a cloudy future, a complication
arises with the sudden arrival of a determined, twentysomething California girl, Christie Roberts. Christie,
a Napa Valley native, claims to be the illegitimate daughter of the deceased uncle. The revelation, if true,
makes her Max's cousin and, according to French law, the beneficiary of La Siroque.
Suspecting Christie may be a fraud, Max questions her about her past while bickering with her over the
fate of the vineyard, whose plonk (as the French define bad wine) rivals the worst vinegar imaginable.
Max, who has tasted La Siroque's awful vin de pays, also finds some other bottles in Uncle Henry's cellar
bearing the name Le Coin Perdu (‘the lost corner'). This mysterious, legendary vin de garage has fetched
thousands per bottle on the black market for years, according to the fetching local cafe owner, Fanny
Chenal, with whom Max has become smitten.
Where does the wine come from, and why is Duflot so insistent on staying at La Siroque whatever the
vineyard's fate? And, what about some unusual vines discovered on the property by Christie, which the
crusty vintner claims are experimental in nature, and a renowned oenologue has deemed unworthy?
Max's memories and the passage of time bring forth emotions and feelings he thought were long lost, and
afford him a new appreciation of his late Uncle Henry's philosophy on life – and on life in Provence:
"There's nowhere else in the world where one can keep busy doing so little, yet enjoy it so much!"
--© 20th Century Fox
specializes in trading bonds. A financial barracuda on the banks of the Thames, Max devours the
competition in his efforts to conquer the European market. His latest conquest has netted a tidy seven-
figure profit, much to the chagrin of his Saville Row-draped rivals. Max's triumph is in perfect keeping with
his philosophy: winning isn't everything, it's the only thing!
Soon thereafter, Max receives word from France alerting him to sad news: his elderly Uncle Henry has
passed away. Max, Henry's closest blood relative, is the sole beneficiary of his estate, which includes a
Provençal chateau and vineyard, La Siroque, where Henry cultivated grapes for over thirty years.
Max travels to the chateau where he spent his boyhood summers vacationing with his eccentric uncle,
whom he hasn't seen or written to in years. While Max tends to the legal affairs of his inheritance, he is
suspended from his firm, pending an investigation into his questionable bond transaction.
With his future in London in flux, Max reluctantly begins settling into life at the chateau. He reunites with
the chateau's longtime vigneron, Francis Duflot (still tending the vines after three decades), whom Max
remembers from his boyhood visits. Duflot's exuberant wife, Ludivine, the estate's housekeeper, warmly
welcomes Max back.
Max is uncertain as to whether life in the South of France suits him. He rings up his best friend, London
realtor Charlie Willis, to inquire as to what a small chateau and winery like La Siroque would command on
the current market. Charlie advises Max that small wineries with a good product can bring several million
dollars, as boutique wine, made in small batches, is the rage in wine shops. It's money in the bank for Max
should he lose his job.
As Max fondly embraces the memories of summers past (spent with a man whose wisdom and
philosophy helped Max chart his successful career) while contemplating a cloudy future, a complication
arises with the sudden arrival of a determined, twentysomething California girl, Christie Roberts. Christie,
a Napa Valley native, claims to be the illegitimate daughter of the deceased uncle. The revelation, if true,
makes her Max's cousin and, according to French law, the beneficiary of La Siroque.
Suspecting Christie may be a fraud, Max questions her about her past while bickering with her over the
fate of the vineyard, whose plonk (as the French define bad wine) rivals the worst vinegar imaginable.
Max, who has tasted La Siroque's awful vin de pays, also finds some other bottles in Uncle Henry's cellar
bearing the name Le Coin Perdu (‘the lost corner'). This mysterious, legendary vin de garage has fetched
thousands per bottle on the black market for years, according to the fetching local cafe owner, Fanny
Chenal, with whom Max has become smitten.
Where does the wine come from, and why is Duflot so insistent on staying at La Siroque whatever the
vineyard's fate? And, what about some unusual vines discovered on the property by Christie, which the
crusty vintner claims are experimental in nature, and a renowned oenologue has deemed unworthy?
Max's memories and the passage of time bring forth emotions and feelings he thought were long lost, and
afford him a new appreciation of his late Uncle Henry's philosophy on life – and on life in Provence:
"There's nowhere else in the world where one can keep busy doing so little, yet enjoy it so much!"
--© 20th Century Fox