Bottle Shock - the value leader in movies! 5 movies for the price of one!

Disclaimer: Despite what you might read below, I did enjoy this movie. It was one of things where you could feel the great movie underneath what sort of fell flat.

Bottle Shock finally opened in Pittsburgh and I convinced JP, my in-laws, and Will and Shan to all go see it tonight. It's an all-star cast filled with people I love - Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Eliza Dushku (who ended up the deus ex machina despite having only a few lines), Bradley Whitford (who was wasted with 3 lines), and some scrungy looking guy with long hair (Chris Pine). And the movie is about WINE! What's not to like? It's even got some come-uppance for the French, if that's your cup of tea (not mine).
So where did they go wrong? The trailer looked promising!



Have you ever read a story/fic/etc. that constantly changes POV? To the extent where you have no idea who is thinking and feeling anything? Bottle Shock was kind of like that. In fact, it was just like the trailer. Did you follow everything that happened in the trailer? That's sort of how the movie felt, too.
It starts out with you thinking, "cool, Spurrier (Alan Rickman), wine snob, will be proven wrong by hippie, his dad, and their people". Then he disappears for about 1/3 of the movie. Where did he go? What is he doing? Why are we now involved in this different subplot? Wait, here's another one. And another? Who's that guy in the suit and what is Bill Pullman doing with a sword?

Subplot #1: Son is a fuck up. This causes drama. Bo's POV.
Subplot #2: Gustavo's dad was a fieldhand, but Gustavo can make wine that instantly makes girls want to have sex with him. Gustavo's POV.
Subplot #3: Bo and Gustavo both like the same girl. Bo and Gustavo's POV.
Subplot #4: Jim (Bill Pullman) doesn't want to fail, but does everything he can to make sure he does. He also makes perfect wine. Too perfect, in fact. Jim's POV.

The awesome part was that with all the crazy life-interaction going on, you kind of forgot what was supposed to be the point of the movie - the Paris tasting. I read a review (that I can no longer find, grrr) where the reviewer said something like "The 1976 Paris tasting is a fascinating story. I wish this movie was about that."

Another reviewer summed it up nicely for me: "While they [Gustavo, Sam, Bo, and Jim] run around an Anthropology catalogue, delivering dramatic monologues about feeling wine in your blood, Alan's tasting Kentucky Friend Chicken for the first time and it's hysterical."
Yeah, it was kind of exactly like that.