Product Details

• Actors: Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Stephen Dorff, Jennifer Lopez, Judy Davis
• Directors: Bob Rafelson
• Writers: Bob Rafelson, Alison Cross, Nick Villiers
• Producers: Bernard Williams, Chris Auty, Hercules Bellville, Jeremy Thomas
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Unknown), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: February 7, 2006
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BZISVM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,268 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Blood and Wine" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

You can feel the gears grinding, trying to turn this attempt at film noir into something sleek and insinuating, instead of the labored near miss it turns out to be. Jack Nicholson is a Florida wine merchant whose business isn't as good as he has his unhappy wife (Judy Davis) believe. He's also consistently at odds with his churlish stepson (Stephen Dorff). Meanwhile, Nicholson is plotting to steal an expensive diamond necklace and dump his wife, aided by his mistress (Jennifer Lopez) and a sleazy safecracker (Michael Caine). It's the kind of thing James M. Cain used to toss off effortlessly, but in director Bob Rafelson's hands the strain shows at every seam as crime and romantic treachery put all of the characters on a violent collision course. --Marshall Fine

Product Description

For wine dealer Alex Gates (Jack Nicholson) it hasn't been a vintage year-his business is on the rocks as is his marriage to Suzanne (Judy Davis). His stepson, Jason (Stephen Dorff), hates him, and his mistress, Gabrielle (Jennifer Lopez), is asking for a commitment. In desperation, Alex conspires with his safecracker buddy, Victor (Michael Caine), to steal a million dollar diamond necklace from a wealthy client.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tense and Exhilarating July 5, 2000

By "singhm2"

Format:VHS Tape

This is a beautifully filmed picture with a rich plethora of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It repeatedly questions your own morality through the use of several flawed protagonist who also double as the films antiheroes. Bob Rafelson paints breathtakingly colorful imagery on the screen and changes the mood of the scene through the use of color to great affect. Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson and Stephen Dorff give stellar performaces. But perhaps the most amazing thing about this movie is the dark subtext that lies beneath each spoken line. There are times when you can feel your heart sink from the bitterness of the unspoken words. Outstanding. Five stars.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful characters in this film noir April 4, 2000

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

I'm not a diehard fan of film noir movies, but this one appeals to me, largely because of the multi-dimensional characters, written with more insight and compassion than usually found in this genre. Even the most villainous character has an understandable reason for all-consuming greed; the rest exude depths of decency and honor when you least expect it. That makes it all worth watching; these are people worth watching and even rooting for. The main cast is uniformly magnificent... what a treat to see Caine and Nicholson play off each other so expertly, and Judy Davis is intelligent and stellar as always. Stephen Dorff continues to impress me with his "diamond-in-the-rough" surliness and Jennifer Lopez does better work here than I've seen before, adding extra likeableness to a plot that, on the surface, threatens to be more hard-boiled than it actually turns out to be. Although there are plenty of violent scenes, there's also just the right amount of vulnerability mixed in with the toughness, enough self-awareness and kindness mixed in with the hatred and selfishness. Great movie, great surprise!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Rivetting performances October 21, 1999

By B.Chatterjee

Format:VHS Tape

Excellent performances by the entire cast make this film well above average. Honestly, I don't know why this film didn't succeed at the box office. It has everything! Great acting by Nicholson, Caine, Dorff & Davis. Treachery, double crossing, action... you name it, it's there. Judy Davis' car accident was done very realistically. Stephen Dorff holds his own against the 2 legends Nicholson & Caine. Where did the film go wrong? I mean, why wasn't it a hit? Can't figure it out.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A nasty bit of Neo Noir February 23, 2006

By Cubist

Format:DVD

Director Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson had a number of memorable collaborations in the 1970s (Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens) and worked once together during the 1980s (The Postman Always Rings Twice) and again during the 1990s (Man Trouble). Towards the end of `90s, they made a nasty little neo noir called Blood and Wine. Like Robert Towne, Rafelson is a survivor from the `70s still using his reputation from that decade to make modestly budgeted, character-driven movies - the kind that established his career in the first place.

This is Jack Nicholson in one of his less showier roles, as if hooking back up with his old friend brought the character actor back out in him. It's a meaty role that eschews the charismatic movie star roles that he does in films like As Good As It Gets (1997), for much darker material. Alex is driven by greed and it gradually consumes him and Nicholson does a good job of conveying the effect it has over his character.

Michael Caine is also excellent as a really nasty piece of work - an ex-convict lacking the social skills that Alex's calculating, smooth operator has. Victor is a chain-smoker even though he's one coughing fit away from keeling over on the spot. He is driven by his lack of time. He knows that he's dying and Caine does a great job of conveying his increasing desperation. He manages to all but steal the film away from Nicholson.

Caine and Nicholson make a fun team to watch as the former sleazes his way through Blood and Wine with his greasy black hair and dry sense of humour that plays well off of the latter's increasingly desperate schemer. The fun of watching this movie is to anticipate all of the plot twists and turns that revolve around a diamond necklace.... Rafelson does not forget that ultimately this movie is driven by its characters and lets us get to know them and their motivations so that we are personally involved in their respective fates.

For a marginalized movie, the DVD for Blood and Wine is packed with a surprising number extras and with most of the major players (Rafelson, Nicholson, Caine and Dorff) contributing to featurettes and commentary tracks.

There is an audio commentary by director Bob Rafelson. He talks about working on a relatively low-budget movie (i.e. working fast on a short schedule) and how this forced him to come up with creative solutions to problems that arose. This is a relaxed track as the filmmaker takes us through his filmmaking process but with quite a few lulls although not too long in duration.

Also included are 11 scene specific commentaries by Nicholson, Caine, Dorff, producer Jeremy Thomas and film critic Stephen Farber. Everyone offers some pretty decent observations making one wish that Nicholson and Caine went the distance with a feature length commentary.

There are seven making of featurettes that focus mainly on characters and the craft of acting. Rafelson talks about how he and Caine put Victor together through wardrobe (an aspect of the filmmaking process that the director seems obsessed with). Nicholson and Rafelson talk about their long professional relationship and how, at times, it is volatile but only because they've been good friends for years.

There are eight deleted scenes introduced by Rafelson. These scenes mostly flesh out the relationships between the characters in more detail. For example, there is a nice scene between Jason and his mother where they talk about his real father.

Finally, there is a theatrical trailer. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Blood, wine, and a really great story January 10, 2002

By Ashlie Crooks

Format:VHS Tape

Blood and Wine follows a very disfunctional family, played by Jack Nicholson, the wonderful Judy Davis, and Stephen Dorff. Also along for the ride are Michael Caine, and even a young Jennifer Lopez, who is actually a good actress.

The story follows Alex (Nicholson), who is a wine seller, but he also has a bit of a larceny problem as well. So as he's selling expensive wine to rich people, he's also stealing their jewels. And he's also cheating on his wife (Davis) with the beautiful nanny (J.Lo). And his stepson (Dorff) absolutely hates him. And his partner in crime (Caine) is an ailing psychotic. And that's just the background to the story.

There are plenty of good twists and turns in this thriller. The direction is great, as is the acting from everyone. If you're looking for a good thriller that you've never heard of, check this one out. You won't be disappointed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Thriller, with depth... April 30, 1999

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

After the usual plethora of Hollywood murder mysterys in the 80s, this suprises with a number of twists that leave even the most jaded viewer suprised with the result. However the movie is dragged from B-Movie world by an outstanding double act between Jack Nicolas and Micheal Caine...a casting from hell that works so amazingly well. Worth watching just to see the two masters on the same screen.