Former ad exec Peter Mayle's 1989 bestseller A Year in Provence shot him to prominence, and now his 2004 novel, on very similar lines, has been turned into a humourless cinematic slice of tourist gastro-porn. It stars, incredibly, Russell Crowe as the conceited Brit who inherits a sumptuous house and vineyard in the south of France from his rascally uncle (Albert Finney); he comes over intending to flog it for a barrowload of euros, but finds himself falling in love with the locals and their adorable life. It is the biggest case of miscasting in history. Anyone, anyone, would have been better in this part. Steven Seagal would have been better. Janette Krankie would have been better. Ridley Scott directs, and makes a chain-mailed gladiatorial fist of the comedy involved.
Cert 12A