Much good praise has been heaped upon this movie, and the Golden Globe nominations seem to support it. Young and I made it out to a 4:20pm showing at the AMC Mercado in Santa Clara. Going into the movie, I knew only that it was based in Santa Barbara and had to do with wine.
I would say that I did enjoy the movie - but it was a hard movie to like. This was mostly due to the fact that I pretty much hated both of the main characters. This is despite the fact that neither seemed to have been overly romanticized - they seemed like people who really exist in the real world.
The problem is that I found it really hard to identify with or sympathize with either of them or their stories.
In the end though, I was won over by a few things:
1. The quietly inspirational conlclusion
2. The totally perfect portrayal of California wine snobbery ("No fucking merlot!").
3. The wonderful depiction of food, wine, and the enjoyment that comes from the right combination of both.