Mondovino: Critic Reviews

The highest praise I can give to Mondovino is that it makes you want to sample every vintage it shows you and find out the answer yourself.

Jonathan Nossiter, in his documentary, is more interested in the sobering facts of global marketing, economic competition and cultural imperialism than in wine as a beverage.

A picnic wine, if you will -- more conversation-starter than collector's item.

The best advice is to relax and let the film spread out on the palate, like one of the wines it so mouth-wateringly depicts.

The indictments, recriminations, and musings just sit there, and the movie feels incomplete and uncentered.

Has an arbitrary, patchwork feel.

For wine enthusiasts curious about this quiet battle being waged internationally, Mondovino is an eye-opening, thirst-inducing experience.

Nossiter's unimposing style likely landed him many interviews with skittish wine scions, but in the editing room, the gentleness translates into lack of clarity.

A fascinating film.

It's such a knowledgeable work and so pleasantly obsessed with its subject that it will interest even audiences whose attraction to wine is only casual.

Nossiter's low-key style has a quaintness all its own. The last thing anyone would accuse him of is selling out to corporate interests.

If you're not a tuned-in wine consumer, you'll probably find Mondovino too long, too meandering and just too dry.

I cannot recall the impressively multilingual Mr. Nossiter, a sometime sommelier, taking a stand on the issues raised by the people he interviews -- or even clarifying these issues for the lay viewer.

While not all the many arguments laid out are fully developed, the consistently fascinating material provides an uncommonly eloquent, provocative statement against globalization that's sure to stimulate thinking audiences.

Well worth seeing as an impassioned critique of the impact of conglomerates on all forms of international culture, not just wine.

A clever if overlong argument against globalization.

It would work beautifully as a the non-fiction backstory to Sideways.

If you surrender to its quirky, jerky style and stop straining to find a single narrative line, Mondovino offers much to savour.

Playing at 158 minutes, Mondovino's essence would be more flavorful, as well as powerful, if distilled to half that time.

If Sideways made you curious about vino, this fierce, funny and challenging doc opens up a world worth debating.

An entertaining film that is neither stuffy nor pretentious.

Usando o vinho como uma metafora para a perda da individualidade no mundo moderno, Nossiter cria um filme fascinante que traz uma galeria de personagens interessantes em um relevante confronto em torno de suas visoes de mundo diametralmente opostas.

Overly long and literally unfocused documentary about the wine industry.