FULL-BODIED TALE
Wine film brings new elements to the table
OZARK (Netflix)
The third season of this gripping crime drama picks up six months on, with Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) running their new casino but fighting for control of the family’s destiny. Marty is adamant they should keep the status quo and maintain a low profile, as they continue to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. Her husband’s meek manner and conservative style continue to frustrate Wendy, who has further bold and ambitious plans which she insists will guarantee their safety and financial security. Meanwhile, Wendy’s brother Ben Davis (Tom Pelphrey) makes an explosive entrance, and his arrival in town as a substitute teacher with a fiery temper throws everyone’s lives into chaos.
BOOKSMART (Neon)
This coming-of-age comedy hit many “Best of 2019” lists after arriving in cinemas thanks to its big heart and whip-smart quips. It’s about two overachieving high school seniors, Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein), who finally decide to break the rules and cram four years of fun into a big night out on their last day of class. Their pursuit of a good time turns into a chaotic adventure that no amount of studying could prepare them for. Booksmart marks the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde, who starred in Drinking Buddies, Her and Tron Legacy. Streaming now.
FUTURE MAN (Lightbox)
This brilliantly funny, time-travelling, action-comedy returns for its third and final season on Saturday. After the gory, death-ridden finale of last season, our heroes Josh, Tiger and Wolf find themselves convicted of time crimes and staring down the barrel of a death sentence. Nice thanks for saving the world, huh? With no choice but to go on the lam, the trio dive back into time to try to clear their names, while also attempting to tidy up the mess they made of history — and the future — while saving the world. If you previously missed this show, now’s the perfect time to fix your past mistake.
UNCORKED Netflix release Running time: 104 minutes
★★★
The wine movie is not exactly known for a bouquet of tasting notes. From Wine Country to Bottle Shock, they are usually light, amiable movies that amble through sunny fields of vines.
Sideways, of course, is the choice vintage, but most come and go about as quickly and breezily as a bottle of pinot.
Uncorked, the directorial debut of veteran TV writer Prentice Penny, also has a relaxed vibe but it brings some new elements to the table. For starters, it’s not about white people. That alone makes Uncorked, which debuted recently on Netflix, a rare varietal. Mamoudou Athie stars as Elijah, a young African American man in Memphis who doesn’t want to take over his father’s barbecue restaurant. He wants to be a sommelier.
This is far from an expected career path. When Elijah announces his intentions at dinner, one family member hears “Somalia” and wonders why he wants to get involved with pirates. But his ambition is earnest, even if his father, Louis (Courtney B. Vance), is skeptical.
Elijah’s passion attracts others. For a young woman (Sasha Compere) shopping for a bottle, he supplies a hip-hop analogy, comparing chardonnay to Jay-z, pinot grigio to Kanye West and riesling to Drake. (It remains unclear where Ol’ Dirty Bastard would fit on this spectrum.) They begin dating just as Elijah starts prepping for the master sommelier test (which, in reality, is so impossibly hard that virtually no one passes) with a study group of new friends.
Elijah stands out in this world but Uncorked doesn’t overemphasise it. Instead of going for a broad fish-outof-water tale, Penny grounds the movie on the relationship between Elijah and his father. The actors help considerably. Both veteran Vance and Athie, a talented newcomer, imbue the film with a vivid emotional honesty. And the family scenes are warmly intimate, including those between Louis and his wife, Sylvia (Niecy Nash).
Penny, the showrunner for the exceptional HBO series Insecure, has — true to the genre — penned an easypouring tale that won’t overwhelm anyone by its dramatics. But the pleasures of Uncorked are in how it gently eludes stereotype and brings a rich sense of texture to even its smaller moments.
There are other movies about the finest pours — like Ken Loach’s The Angel’s Share, about poor young Scots and high-priced whisky — that revolve around the high and low of taste. Uncorked goes a different direction, taking time to savour not just its cabernets but its Memphis barbecue. There’s little difference between the craft of the wine in Uncorked and the art with which Louis, who’s seen shopping for just the right wood for his smoker, fires his meats.
All of which is to say, in these quarantined times, be sure you have a decent bottle left in the cupboard or a good rack of ribs in the freezer before pressing play on Uncorked.