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(About Our Ads) "BOTTLE SHOCK" (2008) (Alan Rickman, Chris Pine) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Extreme Minor Heavy Minor Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Minor None None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Heavy Moderate Moderate Mild QUICK TAKE: Drama: A British wine connoisseur tries to find the best American wines to compete against the French during America's bicentennial. PLOT: Steven Spurrier (ALAN RICKMAN) is a Brit living in Paris who runs a wine shop and obviously knows his way around fermented grapes. Yet, his store's only customer seems to be an American freeloader by the name of Maurice (DENNIS FARINA) who samples a lot but purchases little. He does, however, give Steven the idea to expand his planned wine competition to include the American varieties found in California's Napa Valley. Accordingly, Steven heads there and visits many vineyards, including Chateau Montelena run by Jim Barrett (BILL PULLMAN). A former corporate man, his biggest concerns now are processing the best wine possible as well as trying to get his slacker adult son, Bo (CHRIS PINE), to find some sort of clarity in his life. Bo's focus, however, is on vineyard intern Sam (RACHAEL TAYLOR) who's also drawn the interest of co-worker Gustavo Brambilia (FREDDY RODRIGUEZ). He's the son of a migrant worker who's cultivating his own wine and often pulls off a wine tasting hustle with Bo and local bartender Joe (ELIZA DUSHKU). Jim initially wants nothing to do with Steven's contest, but facing mounting bills and increased competition from other vineyards, he must decide what's best for him and his business, all as Steven tries to assemble the best that California offers to put up against the more famous and revered French wines. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of someone in the cast or are into wine, it's seems highly unlikely. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For brief strong language, some sexual content and a scene of drug use. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ALAN RICKMAN plays a British wine connoisseur who runs a struggling wine shop in Paris. To try to drum up business he travels to America to hand pick their best wines for a competition against the more accomplished French varieties. He drinks some wine and is a bit of a snob. CHRIS PINE plays Jim's son who works for him at the winery, but is a bit of a slacker with no real ambition. He uses profanity, drinks, and apparently sleeps with Sam. BILL PULLMAN plays his dad who isn't happy about his adult son's lack of focus or the fact that their vineyard and winery are in financial straits. He loses control a few times. RACHAEL TAYLOR plays the young intern at the winery who drinks, separately sleeps with Gustavo and Bo, and uses profanity. FREDDY RODRIGUEZ plays a young wine expert who works for Jim but is creating his own wine, albeit on his boss' dime. He uses brief strong profanity, sleeps with Sam, and drinks (including while hustling others doing rigged blind wine tasting). DENNIS FARINA plays Steven's American friend in Paris who's always giving advice to him and drinking his wine, but never buys any. ELIZA DUSHKU plays Bo and Gustavo's bartender friend who assists them with their occasional blind wine taste test hustle. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this drama that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually related dialogue is present, while a young woman ends up separately sleeping with two young men (we see the beginning stages of those encounters). She also flashes her breasts several times to the same man (he sees them, we don't). Violence consists of some punches thrown in and out of the boxing ring, while bad attitudes and tense family material are present. Being a film about wine-making, many scenes involve that, as well as the drinking of it and other liquor. One man appears to be intoxicated, while there's brief drug use and a brief drug-related comment. Various characters also smoke and some behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are some fly-over shots of fields in the opening moments, while there's some bouncy camerawork from time to time. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see young people drinking wine and at least one taking a hit from a bong. Steven runs a wine store in Paris where we see many bottles in stock, and Maurice has some. Steven and others taste test wine at an event. Maurice has more wine. Miscellaneous people have wine in a restaurant, as do Steven, Maurice and another man. Miscellaneous people drink in Joe's bar, as do Bo, Gustavo and Sam. We see that Bo and Gustavo hustle others in bars where Gustavo "blindly" has to identify wines and their ingredients, but Joe is in on the ruse by serving as their bartender. Gustavo samples wine from a barrel, as does his father. Steven taste tests Jim's wine. We see a montage of Steven taste testing wine. Jim has wine while Bo has beer. There's a comment that Bo has no ambition and is either drunk or high. Gustavo delivers a big speech about wine. We see miscellaneous drinking at a country club. Sam and Gustavo have some of the latter's wine. Steven taste tests wine. We hear Steven talk about the primordial response to wine. Steven taste tests wine again. We see many bottles in front of Steven in Joe's bar. She carries many empty bottles on a tray and asks him, "What were you expecting, Thunderbird?" Gustavo's dad has wine by him. Bo and Gustavo have wine. A character states that their grandfather made hooch during prohibition. Bo and others drink at a party where beer and wine are consumed. Bo returns to the vineyard to find Jim seated on the floor, seemingly intoxicated with many open bottles of wine around him (he's upset because the wine has turned brown). Sam and Bo have drinks in Joe's bar. She then pours wine for them and Gustavo. Jim uses an old sword to open a bottle of wine in an office when a bottle opener can't be found. He and others then taste that offering. Various wine tasters spit out their wine rather than swallow it (as is the norm). BLOOD/GORE Jim pushes Bo back and then punches a wall twice, somewhat bloodying his own knuckles. Upon hearing that Jim's wine has turned brown, Maurice comments on it being interesting that it's "the color of sh*t." DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE It's noted that Maurice always tastes but rarely if ever buys any wine. A trucker has a racist attitude toward Gustavo, prompting the latter to break the antenna off the man's rig. He then gets out and Bo tries to intervene, with that man punching him twice before missing on his subsequent punches. We see that Bo and Gustavo hustle others in bars where Gustavo "blindly" has to identify wines and their ingredients, but Joe is in on the ruse by serving as their bartender. Steven initially is a wine snob, especially toward the American wines. Jim fires Gustavo for the latter running his own business while working for Jim. Jim has a bad attitude toward Steven. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" might be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. GUNS/WEAPONS A man has an old sword and pistols on display in his office. Jim then uses that old sword to open a bottle of wine when a bottle opener can't be found. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Taste the f*cking wine," "Oh sh*t," Bullsh*t," "Wine the color of sh*t, interesting," "Put your breasts away," "He looked like a breast man to me," "Who the hell is that?" "Sam I am," "Loser," "The tea-bag," "A hell of a time," "You think I'm an asshole," "Sucker," "What the hell is going on?" "If I ever get a wild hair up my butt..." and "Welcome to the future." Joe wears a midriff-revealing top in several scenes. We see that Bo and Gustavo hustle others in bars where Gustavo "blindly" has to identify wines and their ingredients, but Joe is in on the ruse by serving as their bartender. A miscellaneous person has tattoos. Sam wears a midriff-revealing top. After running out of gas and with Bo unable to hitch a ride, Sam lifts her shirt to flash the next passing car (we don't see anything), but it turns out to be a cop who starts to arrest them. She then does the same again (we don't see anything) to convince him otherwise and it works. Jim uses an old sword to open a bottle of wine in an office when a bottle opener can't be found. Various wine tasters spit out their wine rather than swallow it (as is the norm). JUMP SCENES Steven's car suddenly gets a flat (the sound of that might startle some viewers). MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 8 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("screw"), 4 hells, 3 asses (all used with "hole"), 1 crap, 2 uses each of "G-damn," "Oh God" and "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "For God's sakes," "My God" and "Oh dear God." SEX/NUDITY Sam wears an off the shoulder top. About Sam, Gustavo tells Bo, "She's not gonna sleep with you," with Bo replying she has to sleep sometime and Gustavo then replying it will be the wrong bed. We see the shape of Sam's nipples under her top (while she also wears small cut-offs that show a lot of leg, especially when she's seated). Bo tells Sam they should get a burger, go somewhere, get naked and "screw." Sam turns down that offer. Various men stare at Sam as she rinses off something and thus is soaked in cut-offs and a top (the camera goes up her body to show what they're looking at). Jim accuses Bo of sleeping with a woman who drove him home. Bo replies that he slept with a person, not a name. We again see the shape of Sam's nipples under her top. Sam wears a halter-top that shows her bare back. Sam and Gustavo passionately kiss and then get down onto a bed with him on top and her pulling off his shirt. We next see them under the covers, asleep post-sex. Later, we see her outside the remote house with just a sheet around her. About Sam, Bo asks Gustavo if he slept with her. Gustavo asks Bo how many girls Bo's been with, and then says that Sam was good, adding that he never had a girl say his name like that. Bo then asks again if he slept with Sam, with Gustavo replying that he did. We see the shape of Sam's nipples under her top again. After running out of gas and with Bo unable to hitch a ride, Sam lifts her shirt to flash the next passing car (we don't see anything), but it turns out to be a cop who starts to arrest them. She then does the same again (we don't see anything) to convince him otherwise and it works. The cop is asked if he's staring at her breasts and he tells her, "Put your breasts away." This is discussed later, including that "he looked like a breast man to me." Bo and Sam passionately kiss. The scene ends, but sex is implied. Sam jumps up and wraps her legs around Bo who catches and holds her there (both are clothed). SMOKING Various people smoke in many scenes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Jim gives Bo the ultimatum that the latter go back to school or be kicked out from home. Bo visits his mom (who's separated or divorced from Jim) for money. Jim pushes Bo back and then punches a wall twice, somewhat bloodying his own knuckles. When Jim learns that Bo borrowed money from his mom (Jim's separated or divorced wife), he's upset, saying he'd rather owe the bank than her. Jim fires his son from the vineyard. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The historical accuracy and/or artistic license taken with the true story. Wine, vineyards, wine connoisseurs, and the long-held perception that French wines were (or still are) better than their American counterparts. Family run businesses. Sam (a young woman) separately sleeping with both Gustavo and Bo. The American Bicentennial. Steven initially is a wine snob, especially toward the American wines. The fact that it was unusual at the time for Steven to pay for wine tastings. Steven being surprised that a woman was running a vineyard. There's a comment that Bo has no ambition and is either drunk or high. The analogy between growing grapes and kids, and that too much water and fertilizer leads to lazy wine that instead needs hardship to turn out best. VIOLENCE We see Bo and Jim boxing (with gloves) and both deliver hard blows to the other, including knocking each other to the canvas, etc. A trucker has a racist attitude toward Gustavo, prompting the latter to break the antenna off the man's rig. He then gets out and Bo tries to intervene, with that man punching him twice before missing on his subsequent punches. Steven kicks his car when it gets a flat, and then slips to his butt on the road. Bo and Jim do more boxing, with both delivering hard punches. Jim pushes Bo back and then punches a wall twice, somewhat bloodying his own knuckles. Reviewed July 17, 2008 / Posted September 5, 2008