The Tasting (M, 92mins) Directed by Ivan Calbérac ***½
As wine dealer Jacques Dennemont (Bernard Campan) struggles with a crate up the stairs from his shop’s cluttered basement, not only do bottles break – he does.
A heart attack leaves him with fragile valves and a grave warning from his doctor – give up the rosés and beaujolais.
While initially resistant, a second incident leaves him with no choice, but to join a support group and hire an intern to help him around the store. But although Steve (Mounir Amamra) has a surprisingly good nose and palate, his wine knowledge needs some work. “Where does champagne come from? Saint Tropez?” the young man queries.
His somewhat work-shy attitude and claims of claustrophobia when confronted with the cellar also don’t help Jacques’ demeanour.
However, a new customer has him intrigued. Hortense (Isabelle Carré) initially just comes looking for “a good bottle of wine” and, when pressed, suggests the one she enjoyed most recently was that handed out during her church’s most recent communion.
Having established it was actually a quality, pricey drop, Jacques is surprised and intrigued to discover she has plans to share it with a homeless group who she regularly cooks dinner for.
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Isabelle Carré stars opposite Bernard Campan in The Tasting.
After she accidentally leaves her phone behind when she returns for another bottle, he agrees to her request for a wine tasting session, seeing it as a chance to not only get to know her better, but also train up Steve.
Despite some less-than-savoury behaviour from neighbouring bookstore owner Guillaume (Eric Viellard) during the session, it’s clear that Hortense is smitten with Jacques – and he is not unreceptive to her signals.
The road to romance, though, is not exactly smooth, especially when both of them are harbouring secrets – and nursing past hurts.
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There’s plenty of supporting-player light relief, a hint of external danger and tragedy and generous helpings of double entendres and free-flowing wine in The Tasting to set the right tone for an engaging, enjoyable cinematic experience.
Known for past romantic dramedies like Irene and Cheating Love, French director Ivan Calbérac manages to hold this sometimes overly contrived tale together, thanks largely to the charisma of its two leads.
Campan and Carré may not be the most obvious couple (but then French cinema has a long history of unlikely pairings), but they have convincing chemistry and individually manage to sell their characters’ traumatic histories.
Naturally, there’s plenty of light relief from the supporting players, a hint of external danger and tragedy and generous helpings of double entendres and free-flowing wine to set the right tone for an engaging, enjoyable cinematic experience.
In French with English subtitles, The Tasting begins screening in select cinemas nationwide on September 28.
