Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago once again keeping busy today.

I'm not sure how much of this curious little film is based in fact, but I know just enough about the history of French versus American wines to know that some of it is true. BOTTLE SHOCK covers a time when California wines were a joke to everyone in the world except those in the Napa Valley, who used radical methods of growing and bottling wine and ended up producing a product that bested the most highly praised French wines in a blind taste test in 1976, a year when Americans were feeling pretty good about themselves to begin with.

The film is actually two stories: one is about Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman), a British wine store owner living in France who wants to offer something a bit different in his struggling business. He cooks up this taste test to boost his profile, but what he ended up doing was discovering American wines. The second story is that of a small vineyard, operated by a former attorney (Bill Pullman), who threw away his stable life to start this operation. He works with his slacker son (Chris Pine, soon to be seen as Captain Kirk in the 2009 STAR TREK relaunch) and a small team of dedicated workers (including Freddie Rodriguez and Rachael Taylor) to produce one of the finest and purist Chardonnays ever made.

Many of the subplots and distracting character details in BOTTLE SHOCK feel fake and forced, even if they are based in reality. I don't care that the father and son didn't get along, or that the son was involved in a cutesy love affair with one of his employees (Taylor). But there's enough going on here to keep things interesting without the phony Hollywood formula nonsense. The supporting cast (including Dennis Farina, Bradley Whitford, Eliza Dushku and Miguel Sandoval) provides enough color and flare to the proceedings to keep things lively. But simply telling this story as a factual drama would have been enough. Still, the film succeeds despite attempts to energize it with artificial sweeteners. I should also make special note of Freddy Rodriguez's terrific performance here as Gustavo, an employee working at Pullman's winery, who dares to start up his own competing company. Rodriguez always adds just the right amount of substance to every role he plays. In this film, when Rickman isn't on the screen, Rodriguez keeps things afloat.

Director Randall Miller has been doing junk comedies for years (HOUSEGUEST; THE SIXTH MAN), but in 2005 he made a charming film called MARILYN HOTCHKISS BALLROOM DANCING & CHARM SCHOOL and another decent offering after that, NOBEL SON (which has many of the same cast members as BOTTLE SHOCK). While I'm certainly happy with his new direction his filmmaking has taken, the story of the "Judgment of Paris" is funny and interesting enough to hold off on the saccharine.

BOTTLE SHOCK gets its title from the phenomenon that occurs when wine is shipped long distances in crates and is jostled enough that the flavor of the wine is changed, taking several weeks to recover its original qualities. There's a great scene near the end of the film that deals with this occurrence in getting the American wines to Paris. As much as I wish more of the film had been more like that sequence. Still, most of the film, with particular praise aimed at Alan Rickman, is solid once you scrape away the sugar coating. The exchanges between Rickman and Farrina are priceless, and without Rickman at the core of this film, it would have simply tanked. I had fun watching this movie, without a doubt, and the story is fascinating. Despite its flaws, BOTTLE SHOCK is worth checking out.

For those of you in Chicago, I'll be doing a post-screening Q&A with Chicago's own Freddy Rodriguez, who will be appearing tonight (Friday) after the 7:20pm and 9:40 show of BOTTLE SHOCK at the Landmark Century Center Cinema. If you live in Chicago and are thinking about seeing the film, tonight might be a good night to do so. I'm just saying…

-- Capone
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