Year of the Comet (1992)

Lighthearted romantic comedy / adventure film that pays homage to the genre's classics from Hollywood Golden Era, in the vein of the resurgence of this kind of films in the 80's such as "High Road to China" ('83), "Romancing the Stone" ('84) and similar in tone to "American Dreamer" (also from '84) and "Miracles" ('86) with elements of a thriller, but in an uncommitted & unpretentious way, thrown into it.The locations were very well spotted, from Scotland's Highlands to French Riviera, with veteran Peter Yates (the man behind such cult movies as "Bullitt" or "The Dresser") on the helm, offering a laid-back direction just for the fun of it, based on an original story by screenwriter William Goldman (who penned more 'serious' & intricate scripts like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" or "Marathon Man"), both doing a movie about one of their favorite things in life: red wine.Penelope Ann Miller, then a rising star, fresh from her co-starring roles in "The Freshman", "Awakenings", "Kindergarten Cop" and "Other People's Money" got her first leading role here as the mousy Margaret Harwood, the daughter of a posh wine merchant, Sir Mason Harwood (Ian Richardson), that discovers a rare bottle of wine, a vintage 1811 (sealed in the year of the comet) bearing a Napoleon's seal, in the cellar of an old Scottish Manor. This valuable antique is sold to a millionaire who sends his friend, Oliver Plexico (Tim Daly) to retrieve the bottle, but there are a bunch of unscrupulous competitors who want this find for themselves. Together, Margaret and Oliver will live the adventure of their lives, finding love along the way..."Year of the Comet" is a harmless piece of escapism, nice to watch on a typical lazy Sunday afternoon: the characters are charming and interesting to follow; the plot is way too cartoon-ish to be believed, but applying the suspension of disbelief it works almost like a spoof of the genre, grabbing a less demanding audience and providing them a good way to spend a hour and a half.Penelope Ann Miller and Tim Daly (sporting a sort of Tom Selleck's mustache) gave the best on their performances, the two have chemistry together and they delivered the goods with the heart on the material, unfortunately the critical and Box Office failure, killed their careers as leading performers. Miller still had the chance to work in the high profile, Brian De Palma's "Carlito's Way" (which got her some critical praise and was nominated for a Golden Globe), but after she has disclosed about her affair with the co-star and then a married man, Al Pacino, her career stalled and Tim Daly plans to aspire as a virile / charming leading star like Michael Douglas, went down the toilet, too. The classic french leading star, Louis Jourdan gives here his last breath on-screen, after more than 50 years of hard work in the business, offering a funny, witty and over-the-top performance as the stylish villain, a mix of his roles as the James Bond's nemesis in "Octopussy" and the evil Doctor Anton Arcane in "Swamp Thing" and its sequel.In short, "Year of the Comet" was unfairly bashed when it was released, even if it isn't a great movie, it deserved better fate. Maybe if it was produced in the 80's, could have found an audience, but by 1992, the movie-goers were over-saturated of this peculiar genre and moved on to a more darker films...

William Golman says this is his most hurtful failure ("Which Lie Did I Tell" - published around 2000). Not just a movie that didn't do well at the box-office for some reason, a real stinking dud. He seems at a loss to understand what was wrong. His only hint is that people don't care about red wine. Wrong wrong wrong. Red wine in this movie is only part of the scenery, and the big heavy unbreakable bottle of Château Lafite 1811 (Year of the Comet) is just a McGuffin, albeit a poor one.So William Goldman can't understand why people left, or more accurately fled, the free advance screening in Sherman Oaks that fateful night in 1992. Well the movie is really bad. Exposition is heavy handed, the girl is nice but the character passive and bland, the boy is just weak. Goldman had Cary Grant in mind to picture the male lead, well, let's just say that this cute boy Daly is hardly a decent supporting actor.The movie is totally silly and Peter Yates fails to bring it to the level of an action comedy. Louis Jourdan's last job is what's most in line with a silly funny movie, the rest is mostly a script that doesn't take its story seriously enough for the big fat cheap jokes to work.And by the way Year of the Comet is a really bad title for something that has as much to do with astronomy as with wine.

Take "39 Steps" and add variations on the theme. Here you get two MacGuffins for the price of one. Louis Jordan and his handful of goons are after a youth formula concealed in the label on a bottle of Napoleon's Lafitte 1811 in the secret wine cellar of a castle on the Isle of Skye. The bottle itself, the size of a rather large fire extinguisher, is worth millions of dollars all by itself. A sweet old Scottish lady learns of the bottle and dispatches her son to steal it. "Ken I kill 'em?", he asks. The old lady shakes her head in loving resignation, "Ach, what's a mother to dew? Only if you have tew." The mother and son plot is soon dispensed with and Jourdan becomes the chief villain. The pursuit takes them to the French Riviera for reasons I didn't understand.Penelope Ann Miller is the wine expert who discovers the ancient bottle. She soon picks up a young man as a companion, Tim Daly, who flies helicopters, falls in love with Miller, and owns a billion dollar corporation. Does she reciprocate? Does he get to show off his rock-hard abs? Do the loving pair defeat Jourdan? Does he wind up buying Napoleon's wine? Do they taste the wine at the couple's wedding? Has the wine turned to vinegar? Are you kidding? The screenplay is by William Goldman, a pro who has produced some interesting things among a cloud of clunkers. It was directed by Peter Yates, which is hard to believe because this playful romantic story of wine snobs and thieves is so different from his distinctive work on films like "Bullitt", "Marathon Man," and "Robbery." Even Yates' failure, like "Murphy's War," are exceptional. This story isn't. It's rather like a cartoon.Penelope Ann Miller is a strange actress. There nothing strange about her appearance. She's pretty in a way that some women in the local supermarket are pretty. She's by no means stunning, as, say, somebody with more exotic looks is, like Madeleine Stowe. And she's not extraordinarily sexy, like Elizabeth Hurley or Angelina Jolie. She looks like one of the more attractive girls in a high school chemistry class, the sort that some of the young men with too many pimples dream about before they go to sleep. Her profile is perfect and belongs on an old Medici coin. She's not an outstanding actress, although still competent and affecting.Compared to Tim Daly, she is Eleanora Duse. Daly is brusquely handsome, I guess, in a Magnum PI kind of way, and he's constantly compelled to run around in a bath towel so we see his abs and sinewy limbs and those brachial veins like logs. His performance belongs in a television movie. I didn't like him. I'm staggeringly handsome myself but I'm reminded of a New Yorker cartoon. Two hippos are in the river staring at a gazelle drinking from the bank. One hippo says to the other, "I hate her." Why should Miller wind up in Daly's arms instead of mine? He can pay five million dollars for a bottle of stupid wine and I can't. There is no other rational explanation.But here is Louis Jourdan. He hardly needs that youth serum. He was 70 when this was shot and he looks just fine. His voice is still that Gallic baritone, though perhaps a little gravelly. He's slim, well-dressed, debonair, as usual, and has a chance to overact unconscionably and seems to be enjoying himself. Good for him.There are some picture-postcard shots of Scotland that are very appealing. Less so, the Riviera. But the overall impact of the film is minor, as if everyone -- writer, director, performers, crew -- were all on vacation, breezing along with the breeze. If you don't expect too much, it can distract you for an hour and a half.

Off-beat quirky romance / semi-adventure film. If you like the more indie-film vibe, this movie is for you. It is a little predictable, woman has a job to do, man has to go with her for protection, and despite their opposite personalities and the plot twists, of course they fall in love. Main character, Margaret, is sent to retrieve a valuable bottle of wine to sell at auction...and Oliver is sent with her to protect her. But of course, others are out to get the bottle for themselves (this is where the adventure comes in). It does move slow in some parts but overall I had a good feeling when the closing credits appeared. I'm glad I saw this at home with a pause button and some of my own wine. So, sit back and open a bottle of your favorite wine and enjoy.