9 / 10
“Gen X Great Gatsby”- Documentary of a wine-o conman, Rudy Kurniawan.
Rudy is a young man from Indonesia who in the early 2000s cornered the wine market, and began a brief career in wine collecting and distribution. He would pore stacks of cash at auctions houses, and in turn pour it all out to his circle of friends. All around the table you would find a diversely "successful" group of people including critics, celebrities, and CEOs. When all along it turned out that he was selling counterfeit wine, his friends were shocked... but also dooped.
Fake Wine – What a great business idea, until the FEDs get involved.
Fantastic documentary that is worth checking out. The film opens a window into the world of the 1% and how extravagantly they will waste their money. Watching millionaires getting scammed is pretty satisfying to watch.
From a production standpoint, I'm surprised they were able to compile so much footage of Rudy. Great sound bites from those who were interviewed as they craftily pieced the story together. It does drag a bit near the tail end of the film, but the motion graphics and B-Roll kept you visually interested. Great score and overall rhythm to the film.
“There wasn’t any reason to believe that he was a conman."
When the FBI zeroed in on him, his friends didn’t believe it to be possible. Whenever he was asked about it, he would respond with, “Don’t worry dude, I got everything under control.”
Misspellings, labels soaked off of bottles, a corking and recorking station – this was all of the evidence the FBI needed. Busted.
A brilliant chef with a chemistry lab in his kitchen. Rudy knew exactly the flavor that he was cooking up, and you could tell from the recipe notes on many of the bottles.
// t l ;d r \\
Date Flick? - Probably not the best date flick out there.
Great Flick? - Yea, fantastic documentary and definitely one deserving more buzz.
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