‘A Walk in the Clouds’ laden with ham and cheese
By Julie Brown-Micko

What dreams may come when walking in the clouds? Imagine the lush vineyards of Napa at sunrise, shrouded in fog, the vines heavy with fruit and dew. Through the orderly rows walk a young man and a young woman. He’s back from war, unsure about how to pick up the pieces of his life. She dreads telling her father her secret. Could there be some vital magic in this valley, where heaven and earth meet, that can save two troubled souls? Director Alfonso Arau whispers yes in his old-fashioned romance, A Walk in the Clouds.

With clean-cut charm, Keanu Reeves plays Paul Sutton, a kind, honorable man who reluctantly takes up his job as chocolate salesman after returning from the Pacific in World War II. It’s unsatisfying, but his wife Betty (Debra Messing) is eager for the material comforts of a post-war America. On his sales route, Paul meets Victoria (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), returning from college to tell her family, including her demanding father, that she’s pregnant. Her beauty, misery and need are too much for Paul, who agrees to accompany her to the family vineyard and pose as her husband for one day, only. Once she’s broken the news of her “marriage” to her father, her “husband” will disappear on the next bus out of town. Naturally, it’s not that simple. Paul and Victoria feel a growing attraction despite all odds.

Wine and chocolate certainly lead to romance, but this story is a bit more ham and cheese. Hammy acting and cheesy dialogue, that is. Giancarlo Giannini chews up the scenery as Victoria’s stubborn father and Anthony Quinn plays a parody of himself as the irascible, endearing patriarch of the family. Keanu Reeves is stiff as a board, but looks perfect as the dashing leading man. The women of the family—grandma, mama, and the others—are all emotion and no intellect, wise women ruling the roost from the kitchen.

Acting aside, the costumes, scenery and sets are gorgeous. The cinematography is as pretty and color-saturated as a Napa postcard. Arau (who also directed Like Water for Chocolate) works hard to create a captivating setting for his fairytale, from the tarty red-hair and high-waisted panties of the Betty Sutton, to the flutter and gleam of the linen “wings” the vineyard workers wave to circulate heat and ward off an early frost. A magical scene of women dancing in a tub full of grapes in the sunlit vineyard sets feet tapping and hearts pounding and it’s no wonder Paul happily joins in the stomp.

A Walk in the Clouds has more sweetness than a box of Paul’s chocolates and could send those allergic to romance into severe hyperglycemia. But for those who enjoy a good-looking love-story, this is the one for you.