Gerard Depardieu and Benoit Poelvoorde play a father and son, respectively, attending a livestock show. Luckily for Poelvoorde, the fair also features a wine exhibition and he makes it his mission to sample everything. Since there are a few days before the main event (the cattle competition), Depardieu suggests they widen the scope of the wine tour. Poelvoode is all for it so the two hit the road with the help of cabbie Vincent Lacoste.
Saint Amour had me at “French wine tour”. If anyone ever wants to organize a French road trip, count me in. Jay will definitely come too. There’s a joyous feeling as the characters move to the countryside and get their drink on. The experience feels like it should, and as a viewer I wished I was more actively involved in the adventure.
Even Vincent Lacoste, who I instantly recognized as the title character in Lolo (likely the most detestable character I saw on screen in 2015), is entertaining as the cabbie/third wheel. The beating heart of the movie, though, is the interplay between Depardieu and Poelvoorde. They are both funny and surprisingly sweet as they try (and often fail) to reconnect over bottle after bottle of what I am sure was excellent wine. Neither of them has a lot to say to the other, but as the story progresses we see it’s not for lack of trying.
Then the film swerves in the last ten minutes, leaving us with an ending I did not see coming, not even a little bit. It’s not the worst ending but it’s quite bizarre, mainly because it didn’t fit with my feel for the father and son duo and left me feeling a bit flat. On the other hand, the swerve was believable for Lacoste’s character but that could be my Lolo hatred resurfacing. Me, I would rather have finished the wine tour.
Even with the bumpy landing, Saint Amour is an entertaining ride that goes down smooth. Now to start dropping hints to Jay about a real-life tour of France’s wine regions, sans compromis.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Dang, Sean, if I never see this, how will I know how it ends?
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I probably never will so am going to have to wiki it! Damned cliffhanger review! 😉
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Haha well, if you really want to know how it ends…
(**SPOILERS**) (obviously)
All three men have sex with the same woman (a B&B owner), one after another. She gets pregnant and they don’t know/don’t care which of them is the father. They all move in together at the farm owned by Gerard Depardieu and presumably live happily ever after.
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AHHHH – that was so kind of you to share that Sean! Thank you!!! (so relieved)
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Sean-see above 🙂
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Fraggle, see above 😉
P.S. On reading my spoiler again it seems like something I just made it up on the spot to see if you’d believe it. The ending is that weird.
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Well that sounds bonkers! That B&B lady sounds a right floozy!
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Yes, I wondered!
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Oh no, not a bad ending. A bad ending can ruin a whole movie for me.
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Gerard Depardieu, wow~! I didn’t realize he was still acting. I remember him from Green Card 😉
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I can’t believe you watched a Gerard Depardieu movie, or that there’s a recent one TO watch. Matt was just reading about Steven Seagal being honoured by Putin and apparently Gerard has received a similar treatment by Russian. So, weird.
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Awww, I thought Lolo was great! 😛 I haven’t seen Depardieu in anything for a long time, this sounds like something to keep an eye out for. You guys are so lucky to have to many film festivals around you!
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Yes we are fortunate to be well-situated, within a day’s drive of many big cities, though festivals are also a good excuse for us to do a bit of travelling beyond that!
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Hehe, indeed. You are three very lucky assholes 😉
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You can count me too for a “French Wine Tour”! 🙂
I’ll be watching this one for sure 🙂
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