The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Tasting
Comedy · Romance · 2022
Hortense has a big heart and no one to share it with except her cat, her embittered mom, and a group of homeless people for whom she prepares a gourmet dinner at the local church every week. While buying a nice bottle of wine, Hortense meets Jacques, a fifty-something, grumpy local cellarman. Eager to see him again, she attends a chaotic wine tasting in Jacques’ shop - meeting his best friend who clumsily tries to seduce her, and his new apprentice who turns out to have a rare gift for tasting as well as an unfiltered honesty. As Hortense and Jacques grow closer and closer, their past begins to catch up to them.
Movie details
The Tasting
2022 Comedy · Romance 1h 32m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
Hortense has a big heart and no one to share it with except her cat, her embittered mom, and a group of homeless people for whom she prepares a gourmet dinner at the local church every week. While buying a nice bottle of wine, Hortense meets Jacques, a fifty-something, grumpy local cellarman. Eager to see him again, she attends a chaotic wine tasting in Jacques’ shop - meeting his best friend who clumsily tries to seduce her, and his new apprentice who turns out to have a rare gift for tasting as well as an unfiltered honesty. As Hortense and Jacques grow closer and closer, their past begins to catch up to them.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Tasting?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ivan Calbérac
Written by
Ivan Calbérac
Isabelle Carré
Hortense
Bernard Campan
Jacques
Éric Viellard
Guillaume
Mounir Amamra
Steve
Olivier Claverie
Docteur Milmont
Geneviève Mnich
Danièle
Raphaël Thiéry
Roger
Court is in session
Put The Tasting on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.