SOMETIMES IT TAKES A CHANGE OF SCENERY TO HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART.

Max Skinner (Russell Crowe), a ruthless London bond trader, learns that his uncle (Albert Finney) has died and left him a vineyard in Provence; he goes there, convinced that he’ll end up selling it. The kind of film well-to-do directors make when they reach a certain age and start thinking about retiring as comfortably as possible. Ridley Scott’s vision is certainly attractive enough; he offers us lovely views of rural France, a pleasant romance between Crowe and Marion Cotillard as well as rosy memories of a childhood spent in Provence. One complaint: slapstick really isn’t the director’s or Crowe’s forte.

2006-U.S. 117 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced and directed by Ridley Scott. Novel: Peter Mayle. Cast: Russell Crowe (Max Skinner), Albert Finney (Henry Skinner), Marion Cotillard (Fanny Chenal), Abbie Cornish, Didier Bourdon, Tom Hollander… Freddie Highmore, Rafe Spall.

IMDb