In Vino Veritas.

Bottle Shock
Directed by: Randall Miller
Unclaimed Freight Productions

Based On A True Story

In wine, there is truth. And how fitting a quote it is.



I'm not one for attempting to defeat the French or other countries for that matter. I have never promoted Freedom Fries and probably never will. Their history far outweighs our own here in the United States. We can learn a lot from them; like their healthcare system. Bottle Shock takes the fundamentals of making wine and adds its own Californian twist to it. And I'm not talking about raisins here.



Alan Rickman has been lighting up the theaters with some marvelous performances as of late. His role in Snow Cake is certainly as admirable as his presence in this picture. As seen above, his "snooty-ness" almost consumes his character, but with one sweet drop of Napa Valley nectar, he so easily discards what other wine snobs cling to as their Bible for Wine.



The dynamic between the characters are like plant and harvester; they need each other. They feed off each other. They're like a pairing of Merlot and Pont l'Eveque cheese; apart they are powerful, but together marks true perfection. Bill Pullman paired with Chris Pine bring out the inner most turmoil of their dutiful-near-broke-father hippie-son relationship. An intern and the head wine chemist sitting before a California vineyard, sharing a fresh bottle of the season. And the traveling wine aficionado being begged by every wine maker in the valley to try a bottled culmination of their blood, sweat and tears.




This film isn't so much about a cultural revolution and the United States fighting to win yet another war. Deep down, it is about connection. A father and son are trying to reach common ground. A winery intern is searching for her place to call home. A workhand is fighting for his piece of the pie, bottled in his own label. And a wine connoisseur is trying to connect with his audience, who have not stepped foot into his wine shop in London for a while. Savor the taste while it lasts, because no other film has brought the essence of wine-making to the silver screen like Bottle Shock.



P.S. Rest In Peace Don LaFontaine: Movie trailers will never be graced with your voice to guide them again.