We saw this at Sundance, and we sort of enjoyed the story of the underdog Napa Valley winery in the 70s competing against the "world dominating" French wineries, but it almost felt too silly to be real. The film is based on a true story, but is a bit too "Hollywood." It has a great cast; Alan Rickman stood out as the snobby British wine "educator" who started a competition between the California and French wineries, reluctantly. He is always a joy to watch, but the story loses steam when it focuses on its young "hippie type" characters who are the children of the people who run the California vineyard. I never quite felt sympathy for the Chris Pine character. As an aside, I think the "romance" story would have been more interesting if it had continued down the path it started on instead of switching to the more conventional one it ended upon. I really wanted to like this, and I didn't hate it, but I must just say it was so-so...sorry, it's no "Sideways."
Review of Bottle Shock
