Wine Country (2019)

June 2, 2019 5:31 AM

When a group of longtime girlfriends goes to Napa for the weekend to celebrate their friend's 50th birthday, tensions from the past boil over.
posted by ellieBOA (17 comments total)

Watched this a couple weeks ago. It was entertaining and not complicated. All of those ladies are talented and funny, but it seemed like Maya Rudolph got all the good lines.
posted by sundrop at 6:08 AM on June 2, 2019

I saw this a few weeks ago too, and I already can't remember very much of it at all. Loved the premise and the cast but I would have liked it to have better writing -- and maybe some more depth.
posted by orange swan at 10:06 AM on June 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

I have a lot more affection for shambling movies Amy Poehler makes with her friends than the ones Adam Sandler makes with his.

The really long take where Abby is trying to decide whether to have sex with Devin was great.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 10:14 AM on June 2, 2019 [15 favorites]

There was something so sublime about the "... fine. Fran Fine." joke in the art gallery scene that I had to pause the movie and just sit with myself for a minute.

Other than that I appreciated how this seemed to intentionally turn away from the sort of thing that would have made it another Hangover/Bridesmaids, like rationally deciding not to experiment with molly because of the prescription interactions. And the hill was so surreal.

Overall an entirely satisfying movie experience for something slipped into my Netflix subscription.
posted by books for weapons at 11:03 AM on June 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

OK this was bad. The actors were great, but the writing was terrible. But definitely worked for my zoned out after a long car ride and looking at twitter while I watched viewing.

Does Maya Rudolph have a rider in her contracts that says she will sing Prince and do an uncomfortable yet great live performance of a 90s R&B hit in every project she's connected with?
posted by latkes at 3:18 PM on June 2, 2019 [5 favorites]

Maya Rudolph is in a touring Prince cover band called Princess (catch them live if you get a chance, it’s super fun) so that wouldn’t surprise me.
posted by Atom Eyes at 7:30 PM on June 2, 2019 [4 favorites]

In terms of self-discovery and crisis amidst the vines, it felt like a female-led counterpart to Sideways. But, in this case, there was a nice irony in that none of the characters who had been so laboriously cajoled into coming along by Abby - was even willing to pretend a temporary interest in oenophilia. The film was apparently inspired by a real-life 50th birthday meet up for Rachel Dratch, trip taken by a bunch of SNL stars.
posted by rongorongo at 11:58 PM on June 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

Maya Rudolph is in a touring Prince cover band called Princess (catch them live if you get a chance, it’s super fun) so that wouldn’t surprise me.

Another Prince link - the music for the film was written by Wendy & Lisa.
posted by jontyjago at 4:30 AM on June 3, 2019 [4 favorites]

I had heard several places how terrible this was but checked it out because I like all the people involved and I thought it was great. One podcast I was listening to said they were trying to make The Hangover but failed. I didn't really see that comparison very much but I really didn't like The Hangover and I enjoyed this one. It's nice to see others on Fanfare not trashing this movie without any added commentary besides "It Stinks!" like I've seen other places.

Everybody in this is great but I could watch Maya Rudolph do just about anything for 90 minutes and be entertained.

I have a lot more affection for shambling movies Amy Poehler makes with her friends than the ones Adam Sandler makes with his.

I like most of the Sandler And Pals movies ok, but this was better and I think that comparison works pretty well. I'm glad things like Netflix exist and are willing to say "Hey group of funny pals, here's a few bucks. Go make a movie"
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 6:28 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

I do agree it was charming that none of them gave a shit about wine. My favorite little throwaway was the winery person chasing after them saying something like, "Want to join the wine club? Just leave your name and social security number!"
posted by latkes at 7:15 AM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]

One podcast I was listening to said they were trying to make The Hangover but failed.

A podcast I listen to compared this to the very kind of dumb buddy comedies Adam Sandler makes with his friends. They got into an interesting discussion about how to review this; on the one hand, it wasn't that great, but on the other hand, they felt bad saying so, because they felt like they'd be oddly traitorous and would be harming the likelihood of women being able to make more comedies like this.

I think the practical upshot was that in an ideal world women should have the same kind of creative freedom to be given a big pile of money to go make movies with their friends like men are, and also the creative freedom for those movies to not be that great without it being a barrier to those same women trying to make more movies. But by the same token, critics should also feel free to say they don't like it without feeling like they're being a tool of the patriarchy or something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:15 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

The only thing that really threw me about this movie was the part that had Tiny Fey explaining that no one should mess with a particular thing on the property or bad things could happen. It seemed like an obvious set up for a later joke. Given the nature of the potential joke, I’m glad it never happened but it was a total waste of screen time. Tiny Fey seem kind of wasted IMO.

I had a different take on the art show. I thought it made the older gals look like assholes and deliberately so. Maybe not but that’s how it read to me.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:39 PM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

I also read the art scene as a sort of inversion, showing the older women as jerks. It poked fun at art, obviously, but I thought the main point was to cringe at the older women. FWIW I'm 36 and felt more kinship with the older women and still read it that way.

I liked this, in the same way I enjoy a box of Sour Patch Kids; I liked it while consuming it, I wondered why I partook immediately afterward, then forgot about it entirely the next day.
posted by gatorae at 5:52 PM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]

I had a good time watching this movie. Paula Pell was delightful. "I can't wait to see all of you and pinch all your butts!"

I appreciated the coverage of the different kinds of weirdness on a group trip - partway through you divide off to complain about whoever is annoying you. It's impossible to get anyone anywhere on time. You go to something to learn but it's hard to stay quiet and not just make goofy comments. Maya Rudolph's character trying to get Ana Gasteyer's character to relax and have a good time and then getting annoyed when it doesn't work.

Maya Rudolph was by far the star, which I think she is in everything she is in. I always like to see Rachel Dratch and I wish she was in more stuff. I'm no Tina Fey fan (or Tiny Fey as Bella Donna has styled her, LOL) but I still thought her skills were rather wasted in this. I guess I blame her rather than the part because it seemed like she was making a specific choice to not just be Tina Fey Plays A Resort Owner and it ended up quite stilted.

If we are comparing it to The Hangover or an Adam Sandler Does That Voice Again comedy I like it way, way better. Bonus: every obnoxious man who thinks continuously quoting movies qualifies as a sense of humor will not spend the next 10 years repeating the jokes from Wine Country.
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:25 PM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]

Emmy Rae, I like Tina Fey but did not like her performance in this. I’m glad my typo above served a greater purpose for once!
posted by Bella Donna at 11:57 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

Count me among the "this movie was pleasant while it was happening and then was instantly forgettable"-heads.

One little moment stood out...The part of the tarot reading when Cherry Jones turns over the Devil card for Emily Spivey, and the camera pans up and Spivey is already gone...That really got me, I had to catch my breath after like 30 straight seconds of laughing.
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:16 AM on June 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

I thought this had lots of fun little moments, which is all I really wanted or expected from it.

For example, when a pair of characters were at a wine counter and the man overseeing the tasting is encouraging them to describe what they smell in the wine, saying, “There are no wrong answers.” And then telling one character (I think it was Dratch’s) that all her answers were wrong. She eventually says, “grapes.”

Ot that Brene Brown has to tell them to back off.
posted by jeoc at 4:31 PM on June 8, 2019 [1 favorite]