Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Peter Mayle, A Good Year is a sun-dappled yarn set in leafy Provence about a middle-aged man's self-awakening. Ridley Scott's film has all the ingredients for a fine vintage, including a starry international cast, picturesque locales and breathtaking cinematography.

Unfortunately, leading man Russell Crowe looks ill at ease with the physical comedy, such as slip-sliding around in mud at the bottom of an empty swimming pool or working up a sweat in a gladiatorial tennis match. His comic timing is a little slow throughout the film. However, he does bring an appealing awkwardness to his role as a man who has lost touch with his roots.

Screenwriter Marc Klein's adaptation of Mayle's novel, which is more like a travelogue than a traditionally structured narrative, is unfocused and lacks a sense of dramatic momentum to sustain the film for two hours. Flashbacks are seamlessly interwoven with present day sequences, showing the formative years of the central character (played in his youth by Freddie Highmore), which lay the foundations for his reincarnation as a man of feeling.

When we first meet Max Skinner (Crowe), he's an arrogant and selfish London banker who ruthlessly trades bonds, always with one eye on profit. After his latest ethically dubious trading rout, netting a mid-seven figure sum, Max receives news that his estranged Uncle Henry (Albert Finney) has passed away.

As the old man's only surviving blood relative, Max inherits La Siroque, a sizeable chateau and vineyard in Provence, which he hopes to sell for a huge profit with the assistance of realtor pal Charlie Willis (Tom Hollander).

Venturing down to the vineyard for a few days, Max reacquaints himself with the estate's bubbly housekeeper Ludivine (Isabelle Candelier) and her vigneron husband Francis (Didier Bourdon), who has tended the vines for more than three decades. Breathing in the warm air, Max recalls the golden summers he spent with Uncle Henry and he develops a crush on local restaurant owner, Fanny (Marion Cotillard).

Complications arise when Californian twenty-something Christie Roberts (Abbie Cornish) turns up at La Siroque, claiming to be Henry's illegitimate daughter; a claim which, if proved true, would nullify Max's inheritance of the estate.

Cotillard looks absolutely ravishing and embraces her role as the sex bomb, who is the key to Max's re-awakening.

Finney chews scenery and guzzles vino with gusto in the various flashbacks, while Hollander is an excellent comic foil.

The picture postcard locales and gentle pacing make for easy viewing but A Good Year isn't really a film to savour.

Like a cheap house wine, it's palatable but quickly forgotten.

Following the hot moves of Fame, Dirty Dancing and Save The Last Dance, Step Up is a familiar fairy-tale of dancing passions and impossible young dreams, which succeeds despite its slavish adherence to the conventions of the genre.

Choreographer Anne Fletcher makes her directorial debut and she orchestrates a number of hip hop-fuelled, breathlessly paced dance sequences. She is blessed with stars - Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan - who are hugely talented dancers, able to perform the demanding routines.

In a neat coincidence which won't hurt the film's appeal, the two actors are currently dating in real life, and it shows in their smouldering on-screen chemistry.

Hugely talented freestyle street dancer Tyler Gage (Tatum) breaks into the Maryland School for the Arts with best buddy Mac (Damaine Radcliff) and his little brother Skinny (De'Shawn Washington), and is apprehended by the security guard after causing considerable damage to the auditorium. A familiar face in court, Tyler is duly sentenced to 200 hours community service as a janitor at the school, where he meets Nora Clark (Dewan), who desperately needs a partner for her end-of-term dance showcase after her regular partner Andrew (Tim Lacatena) injures his leg.

Tyler is attracted to Nora, who is dating an arrogant singer called Brett (Josh Henderson), and puts his best dancing foot forward to help her achieve her dreams, which includes learning ballet. She suggests he turns up for rehearsals in suitable attire. "Do I look like I own tights?" he responds. Working closely together, the two youngsters from opposite sides of the track fall hopelessly in love.