DeuceWild_77 Lighthearted romantic comedy / adventure film that pays homage to the genre's classics from Hollywood Golden Era, in the vein of the resurgence of this kind of films in the 80's such as "High Road to China" ('83), "Romancing the Stone" ('84) and similar in tone to "American Dreamer" (also from '84) and "Miracles" ('86) with elements of a thriller, but in an uncommitted & unpretentious way, thrown into it.The locations were very well spotted, from Scotland's Highlands to French Riviera, with veteran Peter Yates (the man behind such cult movies as "Bullitt" or "The Dresser") on the helm, offering a laid-back direction just for the fun of it, based on an original story by screenwriter William Goldman (who penned more 'serious' & intricate scripts like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" or "Marathon Man"), both doing a movie about one of their favorite things in life: red wine.Penelope Ann Miller, then a rising star, fresh from her co-starring roles in "The Freshman", "Awakenings", "Kindergarten Cop" and "Other People's Money" got her first leading role here as the mousy Margaret Harwood, the daughter of a posh wine merchant, Sir Mason Harwood (Ian Richardson), that discovers a rare bottle of wine, a vintage 1811 (sealed in the year of the comet) bearing a Napoleon's seal, in the cellar of an old Scottish Manor. This valuable antique is sold to a millionaire who sends his friend, Oliver Plexico (Tim Daly) to retrieve the bottle, but there are a bunch of unscrupulous competitors who want this find for themselves. Together, Margaret and Oliver will live the adventure of their lives, finding love along the way..."Year of the Comet" is a harmless piece of escapism, nice to watch on a typical lazy Sunday afternoon: the characters are charming and interesting to follow; the plot is way too cartoon-ish to be believed, but applying the suspension of disbelief it works almost like a spoof of the genre, grabbing a less demanding audience and providing them a good way to spend a hour and a half.Penelope Ann Miller and Tim Daly (sporting a sort of Tom Selleck's mustache) gave the best on their performances, the two have chemistry together and they delivered the goods with the heart on the material, unfortunately the critical and Box Office failure, killed their careers as leading performers. Miller still had the chance to work in the high profile, Brian De Palma's "Carlito's Way" (which got her some critical praise and was nominated for a Golden Globe), but after she has disclosed about her affair with the co-star and then a married man, Al Pacino, her career stalled and Tim Daly plans to aspire as a virile / charming leading star like Michael Douglas, went down the toilet, too. The classic french leading star, Louis Jourdan gives here his last breath on-screen, after more than 50 years of hard work in the business, offering a funny, witty and over-the-top performance as the stylish villain, a mix of his roles as the James Bond's nemesis in "Octopussy" and the evil Doctor Anton Arcane in "Swamp Thing" and its sequel.In short, "Year of the Comet" was unfairly bashed when it was released, even if it isn't a great movie, it deserved better fate. Maybe if it was produced in the 80's, could have found an audience, but by 1992, the movie-goers were over-saturated of this peculiar genre and moved on to a more darker films...

vostf William Golman says this is his most hurtful failure ("Which Lie Did I Tell" - published around 2000). Not just a movie that didn't do well at the box-office for some reason, a real stinking dud. He seems at a loss to understand what was wrong. His only hint is that people don't care about red wine. Wrong wrong wrong. Red wine in this movie is only part of the scenery, and the big heavy unbreakable bottle of Château Lafite 1811 (Year of the Comet) is just a McGuffin, albeit a poor one.So William Goldman can't understand why people left, or more accurately fled, the free advance screening in Sherman Oaks that fateful night in 1992. Well the movie is really bad. Exposition is heavy handed, the girl is nice but the character passive and bland, the boy is just weak. Goldman had Cary Grant in mind to picture the male lead, well, let's just say that this cute boy Daly is hardly a decent supporting actor.The movie is totally silly and Peter Yates fails to bring it to the level of an action comedy. Louis Jourdan's last job is what's most in line with a silly funny movie, the rest is mostly a script that doesn't take its story seriously enough for the big fat cheap jokes to work.And by the way Year of the Comet is a really bad title for something that has as much to do with astronomy as with wine.

h_tuydes It is a little bit cheesy but very entertaining movie. Sometimes the scenes are too exaggerated but especially with the performance of the male lead, it is very funny and entertaining. This movie made me feel like the actors and the producers enjoyed making it as much as I did when I watched it. There is some sort of easiness and natural flow in the storytelling.I must admit I am a big fan of the lead actor, Tom Daly, from the TV show "Wings". I think he is really funny yet gorgeous. In this movie, he is the goofy and not-so-gentleman American chasing after this elegant European girl. Of course, the situations and contradictions are not very original, they are almost cliché, but he is very good at giving it a personal touch. I don't like writing spoilers but without giving away too much I must say, pay attention to the scene where he is in great pain after confronting the bottle box thieves, or when he is under the window of the girl. Also, the scene where he is trying to stall the bad guy saying "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, .." numerous times. He definitely gives 110% effort in creating his character. Especially the mustache, funny, ridiculous yet still charming.. :) The lead actress is funny and beautiful, definitely carrying the hidden treasures of a beautiful,naive, stubborn and yet intelligent and diligent girl. Also, it is amazing how different she can look in different scenes, scenery, costumes, etc. But I must say, I am not that much impressed with her acting; a little weak compared to the main guy.The supporting actors are great, too. I liked the lady who runs the local hotel/b&b talking to her son! Don't expect an Oscar-winning moment but truly delightful for a night in your cozy home with someone you love (guys,you will have fun, too, believe me) :)

de_niro_2001 This film is seen by quite a few people as a bit of a turkey but I liked it very much. One other correspondent said he watched it for Ian Richardson and Nick Brimble but my main reason for watching it was Penelope Ann Miller (as with Other People's Money). She's just gorgeous and the scene where Timothy Daly says "the first time I saw you I wanted to sleep with you" touched a chord with me. She's the epitome of the beautiful heroine. I'm a bit of a munro-bagger and have climbed a few of the mountains in the background of a few scenes in this film. Hummie Mann produced some nice celtic music for the Scottish scenes. It puzzles me though how Timothy Daly's character could remain so fit looking despite consuming vast quantities of beer (so addicted he'd brink a can of Bud in a sauna). I admit it could have been better given the vast assemblage of talent involved in it but Penelope Ann Miller brightens up the worst turkey.