The film itself isn’t much to savour, telling the tale of a passion gone sour that could have been scripted in a stupor.
Sideways, A Good Year, Mondovino: Wine country has inspired many a pleasant cinematic outing and even one outright bizarro classic (the 2010 quasi-documentary Blood into Wine; seek it out). After varied romps in California and France, though, Canada's Niagara region finally gets its chance to unite oenophiles and cinephiles with The Colossal Failure of the Modern Relationship, a fine-enough romance that gets a graceful note or two from its naturally gorgeous scenery. The film itself isn't much to savour, telling the tale of a passion gone sour that could have been scripted in a stupor. But Enrico Colantoni gives it his all as a food writer at risk of losing his woman (Krista Bridges) and it's been too long since David Cubitt got such a juicy role as Colantoni's romantic rival. But what aftertaste there is doesn't linger long, leaving nothing but the view, which seems about right.
Barry Hertz