Year of the Comet
by Peter Yates
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Art Malik, Ian Richardson, Louis Jourdan, Penelope Ann Miller, Tim DalyDirector: Peter Yates
Cinematographer: Roger Pratt
Producer: Peter Yates
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Producer: Alan Brown
Producer: Nigel Wooll
Producer: Phil Kellogg
Writer: William Goldman
DVD: Region Code 2
Format: PAL
Running Time: 91 minutes
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Movie Reviews of Year of the Comet
Movie Review: "I can't believe we're doing all this for a beverage."
Summary: 5 Stars
Tim Daly seems to be known more for his moments on television than for his ventures into motion picture. He really just doesn't have a lot of defining roles in cinema. In the small screen, he starred memorably in WINGS and then, more recently, in the very short lived THE FUGITIVE and THE NINE. And, lest the fanboys forget, he was the voice of the WB's animated Superman in the mid to late '90s. But he did have that one movie, even if it's not that well known. One of the very few of his cinematic efforts which does stand out in my mind - even to this day - is 1992's YEAR OF THE COMET, which is a modest and lighthearted foray into a world where wine, skullduggery, and the quest for eternal youth bump heads. Tim Daly is outstanding as Oliver Plexico, the boorish, semi-dashing hero with the lower back affliction. This is also the film in which I developed a huge crush on Penelope Ann Miller.
Here's the plot: Miller plays the prim and proper (but very pretty) Margaret Harwood, the daughter of a London wine merchant. Margaret is steeped in wine lore, certainly knowing much more about the trade than her snooty, British half-brother. But, because she's a woman, she's relegated to handling the menial, every day tasks of the business. She dearly wants to travel and be an appraiser of wine. She finally gives her father an ultimatum: assign her a legitimate project or she walks. Her father, knowing her worth, reluctantly caves, and Margaret is off to Scotland to catalogue a castle's wine cellar.
There, she stumbles into intrigue and great peril as she unearths a giant, dusty bottle of rare vintage, labeled as an 1811 Lafite and possibly once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte. Incidentally, 1811 is referred to as the Year of the Comet, the "most legendary year in the history of wine." The very next morning, she meets up with crass, beer swilling Oliver Plexico (Daly), the errand boy of a Texas wine connoisseur who'd already agreed to purchase the Lafite. But, shortly after, Margaret and Plexico find themselves in mortal danger as various strange and intimidating men begin to pursue them.
All this hoopla for a bottle of wine, or as Oliver Plexico bemusedly wonders, "I can't believe we're doing all this for a beverage." But the movie works, and works wonderfully. The very capable William Goldman scribes the screenplay and turns what could've been a dull, mediocre story into something that's still fairly predictable but, in his hands, also becomes frothy, engagingly tongue-in-cheek, and very romantic. And let's not forget funny. The film also benefits from the delightful backdrops of the French Riviera and Scotland (although Oliver's statement of "All I know is, I just...hate Scotland." can be forgiven, given what he's been thru).
And then there's the acting and rapport of the two leads. By no means are these two stars A-listers, but, in this film, they give their best performances, or, at least, my favorite performances. Penelope Ann Miller gets the film's top billing and she's fetching as the cultured, uptight girl with surprising reserves of gumption. She instills Maggie with a certain innocent, almost waiflike quality, which, by the way, only serves to make her even sexier in that one bathtub shot (sorry, rated PG-13). These two actors emit a certain heat between them as, decidedly, their thorny but playful give and take chemistry becomes the film's single, greatest asset. From the moment they began to insult each other, you had a feelin' about these two...
Tim Daly - fit, poofy-haired, and mustached - shows here that he can play the rugged, wrily charming hero with the best of 'em. I like that he isn't portrayed as a James Bondian type who casually routs the bad guys. In fact, if memory serves me, Oliver Plexico gets beat up more times than he gets to deliver a smackdown on people. French actor Louis Jordan plays his villainous part with fervor; even when he tortures his victims, he displays a debonair French flair. The other noteworthy role here is that old woman who plays the eavesdropping Scottish landlady. She's a treat.
Someday, some happy day, the powers that be will produce a Region 1 dvd of YEAR OF THE COMET (and, hopefully, it'll be in widescreen, with extra features, but that might be asking for too much). Until then, I'll settle for my Region 2 dvd and my VHS tape copy, which are the only ways for me to reliably catch up again with Oliver Plexico - who's more than he seems - and his "funny, overworked ragamuffin."
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