Full Review

Fans of Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" series -- and they are legion -- should respond warmly to this adaptation of another of his south of France best-sellers.

Others might find "A Good Year" (Fox 2000) a bit of a slog. Though undeniably picturesque, this is a leisurely paced comedy about a career-driven British bond trader, Max Skinner (Russell Crowe), who inherits a dilapidated chateau and vineyard in France where as a child he had spent time with his raffish Uncle Henry (Albert Finney). Several flashback sequences show young Max (Freddie Highmore) receiving smell-the-roses life lessons from his uncle.

Max hasn't seen his beloved uncle in more than a decade, and is so caught up in London's fast lane he doesn't think twice about planning to sell the property and making a tidy profit. His best friend and real estate agent, Charlie (Tom Hollander), prods Max to move swiftly to get the best deal.

Complicating matters of ownership is a young American, Christie Roberts (Abbie Cornish), who shows up and announces she's the uncle's illegitimate daughter. She hails from the Napa Valley, and knows a thing or two about wine. Is she on the level? Will her presence throw a monkey wrench into Max's hoped-for profits from the sale?

Predictably, once in Provence, the womanizing Max falls for the charms of the locale and a pretty cafe owner, Fanny Chenal (Marion Cottilard), and gets the message loud and clear from his vine tender, Francis Duflot (Didier Bourdon), that Uncle Henry never wanted him to sell the property.

Will he or won't he? That's about the level of conflict in the film.

The film represents a refreshingly laid-back change of pace for both Crowe and director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Black Hawk Down"), but though this old-fashioned romantic comedy -- almost a throwback to the type of thing that Hollywood might have made in the 1950s -- is all too rare, the often lame humor and workaday script make for indifferent viewing.

Philippe Le Sourd's cinematography effectively contrasts the cold high-tech world of Max's high finance environment with the predictably warm and lush French countryside.

The film's message about learning more from losing than winning and savoring life are additional pluses.

The film contains frequent conversational expletives and some profanity, a nongraphic premarital encounter, and some crass humor and innuendo. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.