Watching Russell Crowe attempt comedy here is a bit like watching a dancing bear at the circus. He makes the right moves, but the rhythm is all off. It’s admirable that an established, accomplished dramatic presence such as Crowe would take this sort of risk. I just wish he had done it in a riskier movie. A Good Year – in which Crowe plays a London investment guru who inherits a small vineyard in Provence, where he learns the value of life at a slower pace – is another inspirational, life-affirming, life-as-comedy cliche whose destination is painfully obvious. The only thing that keeps you on your toes – uncomfortably so – is Crowe goofing off.
