Wine Country

Showing on Netflix.

Amy Poehler directs and stars in this tail of a group of friends who rent a house in the Napa Valley to get together to celebrate the 50th birthday of Rachel Dratch’s, Rebecca. Which predictably leads to a story of self discovery, regret and the chance to rediscover friendships, all linked by a selection of comedy set pieces, mainly centred around drinking too much wine, you know the story, you’ve seen it before.

While there is nothing particularly fresh or original here with Wine Country treading very familiar ground, I rather enjoyed it and was somewhat surprised by some of the negative reviews.

While what we get is a very nuts and bolts comedy, we have a cast of talented comic actors with a solid script that allows Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell et al to show their comedic qualities. The characters are all the ones you recognise and expect to see in this kind of story and the story line unfolds as you’d expect.

With that said, It remains consistently funny, never gets to saccharine sweet and at around 100 minutes doesn’t over indulge itself and embraces its light and fluffy nature. While it’s not spectacular it’s certainly humorous and enjoyable with a cast you’re happy to spend time with and if nothing else there’s some spectacular scenery to enjoy!

If you’re after some disposable comedic movie entertainment this may fit the bill.