Monday,
September
11,
2006
Toronto
(Reuters):
Ridley
Scott
and
Russell
Crowe,
who
last
teamed
up
for
Crowe's
Oscar-winning
turn
in
Gladiator,
are
entering
unfamiliar
territory
in
Scott's
A
Good
Year,
a
romantic
comedy
which
made
its
world
premiere
this
weekend
at
the
Toronto
International
Film
Festival.
In
the
film,
Crowe
trades
his
Roman-era
sword
and
sandals
for
a
briefcase
and
tie
as
he
takes
on
the
role
of
a
cocky
London
bond
trader
who
suddenly
inherits
a
vineyard
estate
in
France's
Provence
region.
Initially,
he
plans
to
sell
the
property,
but
then
slowly
falls
in
love
with
it.
Speaking
at
a
news
conference
on
Saturday,
Crowe
said
part
of
the
appeal
of
the
movie
was
working
again
with
Scott,
who
directed
Crowe
in
his
role
as
a
revenge-seeking
Roman
general
in
2000
for
which
Crowe
received
a
best
actor
Academy
Award.
''There's
a
lot
of
laughs
in
Gladiator,''
he
said
playfully
when
asked
about
his
lack
of
past
comedic
roles.
''It
wasn't
sold
that
way,
but
that's
why
people
went
back
to
see
it,
because
you
chop
somebody's
head
off
the
right
way,
it's
fucking
funny.''
He
said
the
role
in
A
Good
Year
stood
out
for
him
in
part
because
he
''liked
the
idea
of
exploring
the
Anglo-Franco
dynamic,''
as
his
character
gradually
sheds
the
trappings
of
his
high-stress
London
life
for
the
simpler
pleasures
of
Provence.
''I've
got
a
lot
of
English
friends
and
French
friends,
and
when
they're
together
it's
one
thing,
but
when
they're
separate,
there's
another
whole
dialogue.
They
tend
to
tell
me
a
little
bit
more
of
the
truth,
because
I'm
from
Australia
and
New
Zealand
and
outside
of
that
argument,''
he
said.
For
Scott,
who
conceived
the
idea
for
the
story
along
with
Peter
Mayle,
who
then
authored
the
novel
on
which
the
film
is
based,
the
movie
represents
new
territory
for
a
director
who
has
never
stayed
in
one
subject
area
for
very
long.
''I
love
to
go
into
genres
I
haven't
been
before,''
he
told
Reuters
in
an
interview.
Over
his
career,
Scott
has
successfully
tackled
science
fiction
with
the
classics
Alien
and
Blade
Runner,
and
action-adventure,
with
Gladiator
and
the
acclaimed
2001
film
Black
Hawk
Down,
which
chronicles
a
1993
firefight
which
18
Americans
were
killed
battling
a
Somali
warlord.
But
he
has
also
gotten
a
lukewarm
reception
for
films
such
as
the
Demi
Moore
dramatic
vehicle
GI
Jane,
the
Silence
of
the
Lambs
sequel
Hannibal,
and
the
period
piece
''Kingdom
of
Heaven.''
He
has
also
at
times
battled
the
reputation
of
not
being
an
actor's
director,
but
he
clearly
has
good
chemistry
with
Crowe,
with
whom
he
is
currently
filming
American
Gangster,
about
a
drug
lord
who
smuggles
heroin
into
Harlem
in
the
1970s
by
hiding
the
drugs
in
the
coffins
of
American
soldiers
returning
from
Vietnam.
Scott
said
he
was
also
writing
a
film
that
will
deal
with
modern
political
and
religious
issues
in
the
West
Asia.
''It
is
so
chaotic,
and
so
fascinating
that
we
don't
learn
by
history
at
all.
In
fact,
we've
become
even
more
ignorant
about
history,''
he
said.
Crowe
said
he
did
not
to
expect
to
do
more
comedy
roles
in
the
future.
''Am
I
planning
to
do
something
(else)
similar?
Probably
not,''
said
Crowe.
''Do
I
want
to
work
in
France
again,
do
I
want
to
work
in
Provence
again
with
(Scott)?
Yes,
so
tell
all
your
friends
to
go
and
see
the
movie
so
we
can
do
another
''Good
Year''.
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