Customer Reviews

Blood and Wine

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Blood and Wine follows a very disfunctional family, played by Jack Nicholson, the wonderful Judy Davis, and Stephen Dorff. Also along for the ride are Michael Caine, and even a young Jennifer Lopez, who is actually a good actress.

The story follows Alex (Nicholson), who is a wine seller, but he also has a bit of a larceny problem as well. So as he's selling expensive wine to rich people, he's also stealing their jewels. And he's also cheating on his wife (Davis) with the beautiful nanny (J.Lo). And his stepson (Dorff) absolutely hates him. And his partner in crime (Caine) is an ailing psychotic. And that's just the background to the story.

There are plenty of good twists and turns in this thriller. The direction is great, as is the acting from everyone. If you're looking for a good thriller that you've never heard of, check this one out. You won't be disappointed.

If you like Jack Nicholson, you will love this movie, that in some ways reminds me of a stage play.

Yes this was a saspenceful movie,Yes this movie had a good plot,but what or who made this movie as good as it was well of course old deacon frost himself Seephen Dorff. but don't take my word for it,I advise you to SEE THIS MOVIE!!! If you don't like Stephen than you will like Jack Nicolson or J.Lo (before She was J.Lo Jennifer Lopez) I give this movie a big 5 stars!

This is a beautifully filmed picture with a rich plethora of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It repeatedly questions your own morality through the use of several flawed protagonist who also double as the films antiheroes. Bob Rafelson paints breathtakingly colorful imagery on the screen and changes the mood of the scene through the use of color to great affect. Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson and Stephen Dorff give stellar performaces. But perhaps the most amazing thing about this movie is the dark subtext that lies beneath each spoken line. There are times when you can feel your heart sink from the bitterness of the unspoken words. Outstanding. Five stars.

Jack's back in Blood and Wine, but I'm not sure the results will have you drunk with joy. The script does call for the great grinner to be a snake in the grass wine dealer who's looking to score some major jewels. Fine. But there's no zing, no pop, no nothing.

Alex Gates (Nicholson) can't make anybody happy anymore. He's cash-poor and his wine business hasn't aged all that well. His had-it-up-to-here wife Suzanne (Judy Davis) ends up doing more whining then her hubby. He's never home, and when he is, he usually goes at it with Suzanne's son Jason (Stephen Dorff).

The point of all this is theft. Alex calls on old friend Victor Spansky (Michael Caine in the best role he's had in years) to help him pull it off. The two aren't exactly Bonnie and Clyde but they do good work before Suzanne gets wise to Alex and his mistress (the hot, hot, hot Jennifer Lopez).

I find it admirable that Nicholson's been taking pay cuts to star in low budget films like this one and Sean Penn's underrated The Crossing Guard, but what happened to the man's taste in scripts.

The silver lining is when Jack goes toe-to-toe with Davis, who matches him scowl for scowl and wields a golf club like a psycho Tiger Woods. Also, Caine's hacking sleazoid is beautiful, but the two old dragons never get enough room to breathe the fire that's in them.

The problem here has to be director Bob Rafelson who, for whatever reason, can't build the suspense. Under the tutelage of Captain Bob, the stakes are never high enough. What we're left with is a second rate thriller with glimmers of brilliance. It's not enough. Remember friends, Blood and Wine don't mix.

BLOOD AND WINE could be the warm-up for a double feature with a flick from the mid-1980s, BLOOD SIMPLE. Both revolve around ensemble casts where no relationship may be worthy of, much less built on, trust.

BLOOD SIMPLE's the better film but BLOOD AND WINE is not without its creepy charms. Michael Caine stands out as hot-tempered, TB-suffering safe cracker hellbent on pulling off one last caper with partner Jack Nicholson. Speaking of Nicholson, critic Roger Ebert said it was BLOOD AND WINE, not AS GOOD AS IT GETS, that was the Oscar-worthy performance the great actor did that year.

Some of BLOOD AND WINE's plot devices struck me as a little weak, not that I want to give too much away. But just as you start to un-suspend your disbelief, Caine, Nicholson and Jennifer Lopez electrify the next scene.

And to give the story some credit, BLOOD AND WINE has Lopez's character taking a boat ride with a young man with whom she has a mutual attraction. Yet nothing happens while they have each other alone at sea. Again, without giving away too much, later on they are alone in a bedroom for the first time, with further results at least one of them would not expect!

See BLOOD AND WINE, and if you have never seen BLOOD SIMPLE, get both. Trust me.

I'm not a diehard fan of film noir movies, but this one appeals to me, largely because of the multi-dimensional characters, written with more insight and compassion than usually found in this genre. Even the most villainous character has an understandable reason for all-consuming greed; the rest exude depths of decency and honor when you least expect it. That makes it all worth watching; these are people worth watching and even rooting for. The main cast is uniformly magnificent... what a treat to see Caine and Nicholson play off each other so expertly, and Judy Davis is intelligent and stellar as always. Stephen Dorff continues to impress me with his "diamond-in-the-rough" surliness and Jennifer Lopez does better work here than I've seen before, adding extra likeableness to a plot that, on the surface, threatens to be more hard-boiled than it actually turns out to be. Although there are plenty of violent scenes, there's also just the right amount of vulnerability mixed in with the toughness, enough self-awareness and kindness mixed in with the hatred and selfishness. Great movie, great surprise!

Dan Daily as the wine steward really brings this film above the rest. His few but very signifigant lines bring life and passion to this film. The supporting cast of Nicholson, Caine, Dorff, and Lopez are good too, but Dan Daily is the real key. Rent this one today.

Excellent performances by the entire cast make this film well above average. Honestly, I don't know why this film didn't succeed at the box office. It has everything! Great acting by Nicholson, Caine, Dorff & Davis. Treachery, double crossing, action... you name it, it's there. Judy Davis' car accident was done very realistically. Stephen Dorff holds his own against the 2 legends Nicholson & Caine. Where did the film go wrong? I mean, why wasn't it a hit? Can't figure it out.

After the usual plethora of Hollywood murder mysterys in the 80s, this suprises with a number of twists that leave even the most jaded viewer suprised with the result. However the movie is dragged from B-Movie world by an outstanding double act between Jack Nicolas and Micheal Caine...a casting from hell that works so amazingly well. Worth watching just to see the two masters on the same screen.