'Wine Country' Delivers On Friendship, Laughter And Lots Of Drinking
Starring Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Paula Pell, Tina Fey, Jason Schwartzman
Rated R
Comedy
Run time: 1 hr, 43 min
Directed by Amy Poehler
On Netflix May 10, 2019
I’m never one to knock a female-led comedy, especially one with an ensemble cast led by Amy Poehler. They always tend to be sassy, heartwarming and holding a great deal of truth, and thankfully, Wine Country is no different. There are the faces you’d expect to see in this film, and each plays a role perfectly tailored to who they are - probably because that’s exactly what was done. The film is based on a real life trip that Poehler and friends took for Rachel Dratch’s birthday, meaning that real-life inspiration helps the story be relatable in ways that some comedies will never achieve.
Female friendships can often be portrayed as catty, backstabbing or purely transactional on the screen, but Wine Country manages to avoid that. There’s the standard, “I don’t want to sound mean but…” kind of comments but everything rings so true in these worn-in friendships. There is ultimately a kernel of love and humor inside every relationship shown, even when they’re squabbling, misunderstanding one another and struggling to see eye to eye.
The plot is completely what you see in the trailer: a group of friends go to wine country for one of their 50th birthday. Hilarity, fighting and drinking ensues. Ultimately, it’s a trip they’ll remember forever. So many of the women are at an odd point in their lives: one is refusing to accept a call from a doctor with test results, another just lost her job, one is just trying to find love but is struggling hard. Everyone can find something in one of these women they identify with and it makes this more heartwarming than other comedies.
One of my absolute favorite parts of this movie is Tina Fey. She weaves in an out of the story and brings a completely different personality than anyone else in the film, so it’s a delightful clash whenever she interacts with the main cast. Jason Schwartzman’s character is simultaneous ridiculous and a great fit for this film, and the only real complaint I have is that I truly couldn’t tell you any of the characters’ names because watching this made me just feel like I was seeing the actual cast members just living their lives. It felt more like an exaggerated documentary than a comedy that I could truly lose myself in. If you’re looking for a fun hour and a half or so on Netflix, I couldn’t recommend it more.