This weekend I managed to squeeze in a comedy released Friday on Netflix called Wine Country. It stars all your SNL alum favorites: Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, and Emily Spivey. There were some special supporting players with a gruff Tina Fey and a doofie Jason Schwartzman who “came with the house.”
Very loosely based on real events that happened in their lives, they go to wine country to celebrate Rebecca’s (Dratch) 50th birthday. It’s all planned to the minute thanks to Abby’s (Poehler) anal-retentive itinerary, while the rest are really just there to drink. The itinerary wasn’t all full of wins, because thanks to a crappy tarot card reading, all the women eventually start fighting about things left unsaid.
You learn Abby lost her job and is sort of directionless at the moment, Rebecca’s in a crappy marriage, Val (Pell) is trying to recapture her youth by trying to woo a young artist, Naomi (Rudoplh) is keeping a health-related secret, Jenny (Spivey) would rather be at home with her family, and Catherine (Gasteyer) can’t stop obsessing over work.
The film does a good job of bouncing between laughs and more serious moments, and it’s nice to see such a relatable group get together and let loose. I felt like it was also a very accurate, albeit dramatized, representation of what childhood to adult friendships are like. You can pick up where you left off with ease, but that’s without getting personal.
Although there was laughter, no one scene really stuck out to me, but I’m never one to complain about near-constant zingers. And I felt the drama was necessary, especially if Poehler’s intent wasn’t to make this an all-out gag fest. For her first directorial debut, it was good to call back on real life experiences, and with a group of friends that talented, she really couldn’t fail. This is a road trip kind of movie, so give it a go this summer!