I have to admit this 2006 movie based on the book by Peter Mayle (whose "A Year in Provence" is a favorite of mine) starts rather unpromisingly since it carries the same smug, self-satisfied attitude that its hero has. Director Ridley Scott takes a while to find the right rhythm for this romantic comedy, but he eventually does, even if it means recycling elements from other similarly executed fish-out-of-water films like "Baby Boom", "Lost in Translation" and "Under the Tuscan Sun". In fact, the whole venture feels decidedly old-fashioned with formula elements feeling like they come from some Universal film made in the 1960's, but the retro-chic aspect somehow works like a fictionalized account of a lifestyle cable channel program since there is little in the way of real dramatic conflict.
Atypically cast in a lighter vein here, the naturally pugnacious Russell Crowe seems to be channeling one of the Grants (Cary or Hugh, take your pick) in portraying a Machiavellian-level London investment banker named Max Skinner, who unexpectedly inherits a dilapidated château and vineyard in Provence from his uncle Henry, a figure he loved as a child but has since become estranged due to Max's selfish, greed-obsessed existence. Written by Marc Klein, the bulk of the movie is about what Max does with the estate as he argues with the longtime vintner and becomes entwined with two women - pretty Christie, who claims to be Henry's illegitimate daughter from a tryst with an American, and the too-perfectly-named Fanny Chanel, a beautiful local restaurateur who tries mightily to resist Max's romantic overtures after a most bumpy start. As Max weighs his options, his unforgiving career and jet-setting lifestyle back in London appear to be in jeopardy.
More like a Cagney than a Grant, Crowe has the type of aggressive screen persona that takes on all comers, so he seems more in his element being a jerk. However, he acquits himself more than you would expect as the story begins to humanize his character, and he is more deft as a comic actor than even Scott presumes. For example, there are extended sequences in an empty swimming pool and during a tennis match when Scott seems to mistake action for slapstick. Max may be Crowe's most likable role since the loving gay son he played in the 1994 Australian indie, "The Sum of Us". In flashbacks, Freddie Highmore, Johnny Depp's protégé in "Finding Neverland" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", affectingly plays Max as a child, even though the lack of physical resemblance is a bit jarring. Better is Albert Finney as rhapsodizing Uncle Henry since his casting hearkens back to the actor's youth in south-of-France-set movies like "Two for the Road" and "The Picasso Summer" in the late sixties.
Australian actress Abbie Cornish convincingly portrays a guileless American with more than a passing interest in wine, while Marion Cotillard is a stunning, feisty presence as Fanny (although the obvious age disparity between her and Crowe makes some of the back story a bit of a head scratch). Entertaining though more standard rom-com contributions are made by Tom Hollander as Max's realtor best friend Charlie (in an update of the usual Gig Young third-wheel role), Didier Bourdon and Isabelle Candelier as caretaker Duflot and his playful wife, and Archie Panjabi as Max's jaded but devoted assistant Gemma. The wine-growing region of Provence hardly needs more exposure in movies, but Philippe Le Sourd's cinematography brings it glowingly to life. A most idiosyncratic soundtrack accompanies the film with genre-irrelevant chestnuts like Patti Page's "Old Cape Cod", Harry Nilsson's "Gotta Get Up" and a French cover of "Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" by Richard Anthony. This is the kind of movie where you can see the ending a mile away, but I have to say for the most part, I enjoyed the ride.
