Mondovino (2005) is a documentary about one of my favorite subjects--Wine. And it is good that it is about something that I like so much, because that helped me watch it despite its problems, and it has a few.
It is about the wine business and it is interesting in its own way, as it interviews some big names, the Mondavi family, wine critic Robert Parker and consultant Michel Rolland, and very small names, with small local and regional wines. And he sets these two dynamics at each other.
However, he does not set them at each other very well, or very persuasively either way. I kept going back and forth, seeing one point of view and another. And the movie keeps on that track for way too long, running at a less than concise 2 hours and 15 minutes. It could have been done in an hour and a half. Also, the hand held camera, with bad edits, and pans and zooms...it just looked like I did the camera work, not a professional...I am not watching some one's vacation footage...I am watching a movie.
Again, the subject is great, and the dynamic is interesting...but there were far too many problems with the film to really enjoy it. I would like to see a movie about Robert Parker though, and find out how the hell he became so influential a wine critic. Now that would be an interesting movie.
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