Widow Clicquot

I grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario near the vineyards located on the Niagara peninsula so I was really intrigued by the trailer for Widow Clicquot.  I decided to see it last night at the Broadway and, while I loved many aspects of this biopic, I was a bit disappointed.  Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot (Haley Bennett) vows to continue running the vineyards bequeathed to her by her husband Francois (Tom Sturridge) after his death.  However, there are massive debts after the failure of the last harvest, her father-in-law Philippe Clicquot (Ben Miles) is pressuring her to sell to Jean-Remy Moét (Nicholas Farrell), her managers doubt her abilities and do not support her unconventional techniques, and the embargoes enforced during the Napoleonic Wars make distribution almost impossible.  Her only ally is wine merchant Louis Bohne (Sam Riley) but, when she begins a relationship with him, her status as a widow is called into question because marrying again would make it illegal for her to run her late husband's business under the Napoleonic Code.  She eventually overcomes all obstacles to become the Grande Dame of Champagne and creates innovations that are still used today.  Bennett is outstanding in the role because she convincingly embodies Barbe's all-consuming grief over her husband's death, for which she feels responsible, as well as her uncompromising determination to succeed equally well.  The cinematography, featuring shots of sun-dappled vineyards and low-lit rooms in a vast estate, is absolutely gorgeous, the production design is sumptuous, and the original score by Bryce Dessner is dreamy and atmospheric.  The story about a woman who defies all expectations to revolutionize an entire industry is an incredibly compelling one but the telling of it loses focus.  The narrative is very jumbled as it alternates between her volatile romance with Francois and her collaboration with Louis as they try to find a way to make the vineyard a success.  As much as I enjoyed Sturridge's performance, I wanted more of the latter and less of the former.  I didn't love this as much as I thought I would but I recommend it to fans of period dramas.