Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

l_rawjalaurence THE VINTNER'S LUCK has had a bad press since its 2009 release on account of its slow pace and apparently perfunctory characterization. In truth the story is straightforward enough, as vintner Sobran Jodeau (Jérémie Renier) learns how to cultivate a vineyard with the help of angel (Gaspard Ulliel), while trying to bring up his family, and coping with an ineffectual patron (Keisha Castle-Hughes). The film emphasizes quite strongly that individuals should make their own luck in order to succeed; Jodeau discovers this at the end, after his vineyard has been blighted by a bug, and the angel suddenly becomes a mortal. The pleasures of this film lie in the beautiful photography - in Burgundy and New Zealand, both standing in for eighteenth century France - by Denis Lenoir, and the finely judged camera-work by director Niki Caro. One gesture, one expression is worth a thousand words.

lleone8 This film, which transports us to 19th century France, is so beautiful in so many ways. It seeps in and touches you with the delicacy of a fine wine. The pace of it let's you digest each moment and allows you to linger in a wonderful world of passion, desire, spiritedness as well as death and anguish. Which is why I loved the film so much...the duality of it. It's not like your typical Hollywood movie in which one thing or another is forced onto you. The film takes you on a journey where you can think about, and more importantly feel the duality of life...the duality of your own life and spirit. It awakens an understanding within yourself through the characters and the script. The acting is superb...Vera Farmiga is at her best and Keisha Castle-Hughes has become a fierce woman with such raw vibrancy I was wishing for more of her. The script takes the kind of turns and risks you can only hope for when watching a film. Filled with such feeling and thought it's a tale that lingers on long after leaving the theater....isn't that what art is all about.

tragedyamber This review definitely contains spoilers.After waiting what seems like forever for this movie, I was finally able to see it the other night. In the interest of full disclosure, let me start by saying that the novel by Elizabeth Knox is one of my favorite books of all time. When I heard a film was being made, I was skeptical. That this complicated, strange and beautiful book could be made into a film with any semblance of coherence, let alone quality, seemed impossible. Keeping this in mind, I watched the film with a very careful, very critical eye, and fully expected to hate it.I didn't. But I can't say I liked it much either.The casting is almost perfect. Jeremy Renier, Gaspard Ulliel and Vera Farmiga are dead-on as far as appearance and mannerisms, and all do a wonderful job with the parts they play. Keisha Castle-Hughes is a question mark; she's a good actress who does well in the beginning, but when her character begins to age, her gravitas vanishes, and this took me right out of a lot of scenes. It's hard not to roll your eyes when the woman playing the aging mother of several children looks at least ten years younger than her eldest daughter. But this casting error seems minor when laid next to the film's more obvious fault: the angel.Xas is a problem because his role in both the story and Sobran's life is diminished. While it's made clear he's important to Sobran and Sobran to him (through telling, not showing, which is always annoying) the *point* of their relationship is never explored. I'm honestly not sure if Niki Caro intended for them to be seen as lovers or not, and that's an issue, not because (as one reviewer suggests) no fan of the book could be satisfied without a sex scene, but because it muddles the whole angel plot and turns a fascinating character into set dressing. It's impossible to tell whether Xas is manipulating events or if his sole purpose is to make wine and spout metaphors, in which case, why is he bothering? The consequences of his immortality and the removal of his wings are not so much as touched on in the film, and this lack of exposition makes it very hard to care about him. If you're going to have an angel in a story like this one, about humans and humanity, there needs to be a good reason, otherwise it just doesn't fit. I'm frankly baffled as to why the director would choose to remove so many fantasy elements (not to mention a murder mystery subplot) from the story. Replace thirty-minutes of artsy shots of vines and bees with some actual *plot* and this would have been a much more interesting film.That said, the cinematography (save for some inexcusably ridiculous shots of the angel in flight) is wonderful and the score is lovely throughout. Some of the softer scenes, early conversations between Xas and Sobran, and later between Sobran and Aurora, are directly lifted from the book and entirely too beautiful, the best moments in the film - and that's kind of my whole issue. With source material that good, you don't have to make huge changes to suit your "vision" (showcasing Castle-Hughes is a blatant priority, and a straight-washing of what is, at its core, a gay love story, and that's problematic whether you choose to regard it as such or not) or ego (clearly the director wanted to tell her own tale, not Knox's, and simply used the novel as a springboard).The Vintner's Luck's incurable flaw is its pointlessness; ironic, considering there is a scene in which Sobran laments a lifetime of love and effort resulting in nothing. That almost perfectly describes the film itself.

clayboy44 I saw The Vintner's Luck a few days ago at TIFF 2009 I have not been familiar with Niki Caro's work, had not read the book and really did not know what to expect.I came out of that film exhilarated. For me this was a passionate look at life, love, labour with a glimpse of spirituality. I thought the cast was exceptional in a film with beautiful photography and pace. The introduction of the angel was completely believable and added such a wonderful mystical element to this lyrical, romantic film.- Fallen but not evil. Ulliel was really perfect casting!Critics have not all been kind but I think the audience potential for this film will be huge and cast off any negativity. At the second screening I attended, the audience was very appreciative in applause.I was blown away by what I had just seen. Caro should be proud of her accomplishment, as should the cast for bringing to life such amazing characters in such a beautifully realized story. And I'll look for the book now after this screening....