Bottle Shock (2008)

Flat, musty and with a hint of flopsweat.

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09/05/08

It's such a rewarding movie going experience it's tempting to trot out all the adjectives generally used to describe a good wine. Not being a connoisseur I'll just say that it left me with a very pleasant buzz.

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09/04/08

I was slightly involved towards the end, but the story's constant shift in focus made it hard for me to care through most of it

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09/02/08

It might have worked better as a documentary, or better yet a paragraph on Wikipedia.

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08/29/08

Bottle Shock feels more like an excuse to exercise the most familiar of screenwriting formulas than to explore the origins of California's booming wine industry.

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08/29/08

It's is like that bottle of wine that makes you feel like you paid too much for what you got.

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08/27/08

There's also Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier -- and when he's on-screen, all is right with this movie and the world.

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08/27/08

'I detect bacon fat, laced with honey melon,' says a wine lover played by Dennis Farina. Moviegoers are more likely to detect corn, with a bit of ham.

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08/25/08

Though this film may be based on a true story, it comes off as a collection of cliches peopled by characters straight out of central casting.

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08/24/08

The people who made Bottle Shock obviously love their wine. They're not that crazy about the French. And they are firm believers in the screenwriting rule of leaving no underdog-formula cliché unused.

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08/22/08

Frankly, the droll Rickman is the most watchable thing about the movie. A subplot dealing with Bo's wine-savvy buddy (Freddy Rodriguez) has its moments, too, but isn't given enough time to come to its fruition.

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08/22/08

Verdict: Chewy, ripe and rounded almost to the point of flabbiness, it finishes rather cleanly; less satisfying is the fragrant bouquet, which contains notes of corn and all-wet underdog.

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08/21/08

Even though the whole thing is based on reality, there's barely a moment that goes by that feels real.

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08/18/08

It's the most amusing wine aficionado film since 'Sideways.'

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08/18/08

If Bottle Shock were a wine, someone would probably call it amusing with a hint of apricot. I'd just call it a heck of a lot of fun.

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08/15/08

Bottle Shock takes a fascinating historic event... and renders it as a sidelight to an overindulged father-son conflict and story lines that start out well but never go anywhere.

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08/15/08

Bottle Shock is... utterly charming.

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08/15/08

The re-creation of time and place seems authentic enough, and the performances are convincing, especially Pine's and Taylor's.

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08/15/08