L'année de la comète

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...

The Year of the Comet is in a genre that is the perfect date movie. It is a romantic comedy that is in the guise of an action thriller.

This was William Goldman's first original script since Butch Cassidy. The film even features two actors from the Bond films: Art Malik and Louis Jourdan.

Go rent this movie if you want a surprising, unexpected treat.

In an obvious homage to the wacky films of the '40's and '50's, year of the Comet is very good at being what it is - a fluffy film to be enjoyed lightly. It won't cure cancer, it won't change your political ideology, but it will make you smile, laugh, and have a nice 2 hours.

Tim Daly is effortlessly charming and Miss Miller is properly wholesome, as the role demands. Nice one-liners and recurring jokes, a frothy but well-paced plot, and some excellent performances by character actors in supporting roles (I especially love the Scottish mother) make it easy to watch and enjoy.

Well, unless you want explosions and political subtext.

I don't know why so many people think this is a bad film. I guess I'm no critic but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Beautiful locations. Attractive stars. And the "underdog" doesn't stay under for long. I'ts not rocket science, but who wants to watch rocket science at the end of a tough day. It's fun, romantic and something you can watch even if the kids are around. I'd give it the full 10 stars!

I thought it was a light hearted comedy, made me laugh.

It was just full of fun and entertainment.

The actors roles also poked a little fun at the nationality of all involved in this escapade as well as trying their hand at a Scottish or English accent was amusing.

It did show just how beautiful Scotland can be even when a helicopter lands on a croft scaring the poor farmers sheep! Taking us on a tour trying to catch up with the crooks who were always bungling everything they tried to was also funny.

Its a film that if you need to laugh or feel good, its one that will work for most people.