Year of the Comet

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source: Year of the Comet

On a rainy Sunday afternoon this would be fun with a friend. It's a silly, fluffy and self-indulgent love story, something that 50 years ago Cary Grant might have done. So what if background details are left out and the plot is nonsensical? It's a romance. (Okay, and the dialogue is sometimes a bit too cutesy and the hero does remind you constantly and annoyingly of The Sundance Kid.) There's room in the world for romp and caper and chase films too. (I only wish the scenery had been used a bit more. Both the Isle of Skye and Monaco can be charming places.) I liked the film when it first came out and watching it last night I enjoyed it again. Thanks, Bill.

YEAR OF THE COMET What a terrible shame this movie turned out so bad. Within the first five minutes of watching this film I wanted to see MORE. YES, I was excited. Then after five more minutes into this drama/thriller, I'm tearing my hair out. What was with the terrible attempts at trying to add some humour?? The bottle of wine was worth a LOT of money. Why the messing around?? The guy was left hanging on the side of a building for far too long. And the silly Greek guy at the airport, blah blah blah. I'm surprised it didn't become a MUSICAL!! This film had the potential to be good...very good!!.. only to be spoiled by the failed humour and ridiculous ending. The only saver was the beautiful Scottish scenery. If you value your spare time, then don't waste your time on this one!! 2.5/10

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...