REVIEW

From an unexpected soundtrack to a wonderful opening scene that displays the contrast between wine and barbecue, Director Prentice Penny does not disappoint to show the audience why this movie deserves to be placed at #5 on the top 10 movies today list on Netflix.

Uncorked is about a young man named Elijah, played by Mamoudou Athie, whose passion for wine causes him to have to deal with some of life’s hardships. Whether that be trying to pass a sommelier exam to choosing to take over the family barbecue business or not.

Elijah’s dad Louis, played by Courtney B. Vance, knows that Elijah is inconstant when it comes to choosing what he wants to do in life and always is switching it up. So, once he hears that his son wants to be a sommelier, which is an expert in wine, he’s upset. Since Louis wants him to take over the barbecue business so it stays in the family because it was his own father’s business at first.

His mother, played by Niecy Nash, is constantly trying to stop them from arguing and trying to help them see each other’s side, and will play a big part in their lives and in Elijah’s decision later in the film.

The movie did a spectacular job at hooking me in. I know nothing about wine but while watching, I felt like wine studying could’ve been my new hobby. From the start of the film to the very end, it showed that Elijah had a love for wine to the point that he had a need to know all about it.

The story line had an unfamiliar aspect to it since it had to deal with a career in wine and I don’t know a single movie that deals with wine, but it also was familiar because the plot is something that is seen in the real world, which was deciding whether or not to stick to tradition and the way of the family or going off on another path.

The actors did a good job of making it feel like it was their normal lives, making it seem as if I just watched events in a real family. For example, all though his part was small, Bernard David Jones roll as JT, the cousin of Elijah, was very well done. It displayed how supportive, laid back, and funny a cousin can be.

The soundtrack of the film was the most surprising factor of the whole film. Rap is a genre that I wouldn’t think that would go well with a movie about wine, I would imagine there’d be classical music, the like of Mozart and Beethoven. The rap songs mixed well throughout the show, but in one scene it was louder than the actors but other than that it was used well.

Although it has a lot of good things going for it, doesn’t mean that it is completely perfect. The beginning of the movie should’ve been composed better so that the audience could understand more of what was happening.

It also would be beneficial if the director and producers had introduced the characters better and using them more sufficiently, it was hard for me to know who was who and what their roll was during the beginning.

For example, it felt like Elijah’s girlfriend Tanya, played by Sasha Compère, was not used to the full potential. She could’ve had a bigger part in his life, but her importance seems to fade away as the movie went on.

With that being said, Uncorked is a great movie to watch at night with friends and family, since it is TV-MA it would not be suggested to watch with children. I would give it a 4 out of 5 rating.