WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Amy Poehler directed and stars in this Netflix comedy about six old friends who gather for a 50th birthday party in Napa Valley. As the wine flows, however, old resentments bubble up and bonds will be tested. The story is perhaps less important than the ensemble cast _ a who's who of female comedic talent, including Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey.
MY SAY: Don't go into "Wine Country" expecting an all-female "Sideways." A better comparison, which Poehler and company may or may not appreciate, is Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups" franchise.
Among the last of Sandler's theatrical releases before his move to Netflix, the "Grown Ups" movies centered on five old friends (Chris Rock, Kevin James and others) who reunite after many years. The movies trafficked mostly in crude humor and easy nostalgia, but they also addressed, at least superficially, issues of marriage, parenting and aging. (Sandler is 52, roughly the same age as the "Wine Country" women.) The "Grown Ups" movies are certainly no classics, but they worked because they extolled the value of old friendships and reminded us of our own.
That's a fair summation of "Wine Country," too. Poehler's movie introduces us to six women who worked as waitresses at a Chicago pizzeria in the 1990s. Dratch plays Rebecca, an amiable doormat whose 50th birthday has been commandeered by over-controlling Abby (Poehler). She rents a house in Napa and invites the whole gang for a weekend of drinking. As the house's jaded owner, Tammy (Tina Fey), puts it: "What could go wrong?"
Glimmers of tension appear. Naomi (Maya Rudolph), a mother of three, berates Catherine (Ana Gasteyer) for making constant work calls. Jenny (Emily Spivey, a co-writer) looks on the dark side of everything. Only Val, a gregarious lesbian on the make, seems comfortable in her own skin. She's played by a wonderful Paula Pell, a successful television writer ("Saturday Night Live," "30 Rock") who ought to get in front of a camera more often.
"Wine Country" is not exactly hilarious _ more like fitfully amusing _ but it's interesting to hear what does and doesn't matter to these women. There is little romance, and only the briefest suggestion of sex. Music is still important; Rudolph's Naomi delivers a funny, touching monologue about the death of Prince. Millennials are a sore spot; the women regard them as enviably confident but also coddled and callow. Spouses are afterthoughts; the subject of children virtually never comes up.
BOTTOM LINE: "Wine Country" feels only loosely written and directed; Poehler basically seems to mix and match her cast, turn on the camera and hope for gold. She gets some nuggets, but sharper characters and a firmer storyline would have helped. At its best, though, "Wine Country" gives us a snapshot of six women who, at a turning point in their lives, still have each other.
