I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I was disappointed in the absurdly thin plot divises used to further the action, as for example the total inability of the principals to recognise deliberate sabotage, apparently assuming that stopcock handles can turn themselves and then leap off the valve and throw themselves on the floor, apparent suicides. That said, one isn't entirely disappointed in the actors, who are almost uniformly pleasant and attractive, with the exception of the piece's almost absurdly transparent villain and his doltish assistant, who weren't easily distinguished from those of the commedia dell'arte. All in all, a moderately pleasant diversion, and fairly typical of the genre.

We did like the actors. The music was pretty good. The plot was good. And the cinematography was fabulous.But the writing was awful. Among the concepts that were hard to believe are that the main character girls are snarky and drunkards and juvenile one minute, then supposedly wise and kind and mature the next, making the personal connections and business decisions they make hard to accept. Also, the estate business takes place in a time frame that isn't believable, so again, hard to accept.Then there's the vocab. It would be SO great if writers would just stay away from the gungy words and concepts that do nothing but create litter and instead give us high-road words and situations that make sense.And next to the ignorant vocab, there's our next least favorite thing.. The moment when a character really should say what needs to be said, but instead uses precious moments to either stay silent or do the "You don't understand" or "Just listen to me" or some such. Just spit it out! And on the flip side, the listener doesn't listen. SO many stories include this plot twist and it's always annoying. Especially since up til then that character usually has had no problem spouting whatever comes to mind and the listener has usually been a great listener.If you're not expecting much, you'll probably enjoy the show. If you're hoping for a smart story, this isn't it. Either way, the actors are fun, especially Christopher Lloyd, and the views are beautiful.

Having read very mixed reviews, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. So, in the end, I decided that the only way to find out is to go ahead and watch it. I got the movie and to be honest, was expecting a huge disaster (I guess negative reviews always dominate). I've just finished watching and so glad I did. The acting wasn't bad, yes, not a Hollywood blockbuster, but who always needs those movies. It is a lot, and I really mean a lot, better than many movies out there. I really was impressed. Well done to the actors and director - it could have been a bland, movie with stiff acting and poor dialog, no feeling, but it turned out really well. And I even felt for the characters. So, all-in-all, a cute little movie that I'm really glad I watched and will watch again.

"The Château Meroux" is a lightweight chick-flick notable only for staring an ageing Christopher Lloyd. He plays the slimy owner of a vineyard who will stop at nothing to acquire The Château Meroux, a rival Northern Californian plantation. Much of the film consists of light female banter between Wendy (Marla Sokoloff) and Jennifer (Amanda Righetti), who play a couple of big city gals forced to take over a struggling, rural winery. When they're not acting oh so girly, Wendy and Jen are flirting with sexy hunks, romancing strangers and getting their hearts broken.Aesthetically, the film's going for a kind of hyper romanticism, fawning over pretty summer dresses, youthful beauty, romantic locales, sun-kissed bodies, lips, eyes, hair, sexy foliage and lots and lots of alcohol. It's cute or cheap, depending on your tolerance levels. For a film shot on a micro budget, "Meroux" is cut, shot, acted and flows well.Mostly, the film's interesting for corporate reasons. It's one of several products being pushed by Starz Media (its produced by Contradiction Films, an independent company), which is slowly moving into feature films and is slowly trying to find and corner its own little niche markets. They mostly make and/or distribute cheap, formulaic, romantic or Christmas movies; TV grade stuff, but more hyper wholesome and hyper polished than is typical of the genre. The Weinsteins recently acquired the company, so Starz seem to have hit upon a untapped market: pg, conservative, family oriented, cutesy dramas. Two decades ago similar off-shoot companies were tapping into soft-core porn. Now, with the proliferation of pornography, you get the reverse.7/10 - Worth one viewing.