A few years back I wrote a review -- wait, "review" isn't quite the word I'm looking for. What's a good word that encapsulates 2,500 spite-filled scathing words of hate and fire and a little more hate? Well, when you think of that word, insert it here and apply it to the film Just My Luck, an insipid piece of drek aimed at selling the vapid, coked up, loose, party-girl Hiltonesque lifestyle (and a since unheard of rock band) to tween girls through the comic stylings of one Lindsay Lohan. It's a mess, a near unwatchable film that shamelessly sells its merchandise while offering up some of the worst ideals for girls to live up to. But amid the miserable intellectual squalor is one single bright light, an actor who seems to come out of every terrible scene unscathed, a guy who delivers even the worst dialogue with a smile and some style. His name is Chris Pine.

You might recognize that name. He's going to kick off the summer playing the most famous starship captain in cinema history, Captain James T. Kirk. But before he becomes a household name (the same way Shia LaBeouf did two years ago), you can catch him in his last small, under-appreciated indie effort, Bottle Shock.

Bottle Shock is the true story of vintner Bo Barret and his dad Jim (Bill Pullman) as they try to eek out a living making the perfect wine in California's Napa Valley. In 1976, no one in the world thought American wine was worth the grapes they were squeezed from. But that was all about to change as a down-on-his-luck wine dealer came to America to pull off the stunt of a lifetime -- he was going to set up a blind taste test to prove for once and for all that French vines made the superior wines. The result of that taste test would change the history of wine forever.

An adorable acquisition from last year's Sundance, Bottle Shock is exactly the type of film that will find its home on DVD. Neither heartwrenching nor wildly cinematic, it is instead a heartwarming, well told tale of American ingenuity and toil ripening and bearing incredible fruit. Pine plays a hippie slacker who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth only to fritter away every last advantage he has, finally ending up working on his father's failing vineyard. Along with his best friend (Freddy Rodriguez) and the way-too-attractive new female intern Sam (Rachel Taylor), he has to grow up quickly, as problems with producing the wine come at the same time that the visiting French wine seller appears.

Punctuating the story is a surprisingly well known cast, most of whom are relegated to small parts. Alan Rickman plays the wine seller; Dennis Farina plays his American-in-Paris cohort; Eliza Dushku has a small role as the local bartender; and Bradley Whitford wins the award for smallest cameo, turning in an astounding blink-and-you-missed-him role as some sort of wine expert.

A very enjoyable feel-good movie, this is a great find and something I enjoyed watching quite a bit. Its love of wine reminded me quite a bit of the film Waitress (with its love of pies) -- you'll no doubt find yourself wanting to crack open a bottle of your favorite vintage immediately afterward, if you don't pause the movie to do so to begin with. I'm not much of a wine man myself, but I could almost taste Merlot by the time the film ended; I made it a personal quest to track down a bottle of the current vintage from the film's vineyard, Chateau Montelena. Adding to that desire is a 10-minute, self-produced promotional video from the vineyard, detailing its history and including interviews with the real-life vintners. There's also a brief making-of, a few deleted scenes, and commentary from the film's cast and filmmakers.

Definitely a great rental and a nice way to enjoy Pine's work before he explodes this summer, Bottle Shock is available now from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

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