Sherman's Way

"Sherman's Way" is a tale of two unlikely buddies whose paths cross quite by accident in the fertile fields of the Napa Valley. One, Sherman Black, is an uptight little rich kid from Manhattan who's trying to get out from under the thumb of his domineering mother who has his entire future as a ladder-climbing corporate lawyer firmly mapped out for him. The other, Palmer, is a down-on-his-luck free-spirit who roams the countryside in his beat-up cherry-red sports car, not quite able to come to terms with the fact that, two decades earlier, he came in fourth place in an Olympics downhill skiing competition. After Sherman's girlfriend dumps him for being too unadventurous and vanilla for her taste, the befuddled yuppie heads to the open road to flag down a ride. Enter Palmer in his roadster and off the two strangers go, two polar opposites brought together by fate to learn from one another how best to get through life. And, though Sherman does most of the learning, he's still able to teach a great life-altering lesson to Palmer at the end. In very quick order, a strong bond is established between the two men, as they debate the relative merits of the carefree life vs. the corporate rat race with good-natured humor and aplomb.

Sherman is further helped along in his loosening-up process by Addy, an attractive young artist who shows the young man a thing or two about living in the moment and about the importance of actively pursuing the desires of one's heart.

"Sherman's Way" is a predictable but breezy small town comedy, filled with rapid-fire one-liners and charming, self-effacing performances from Michael Shulman, James Le Gros, Brooke Nevin and Enrico Colantoni. Smartly written by Tom Nance and sharply directed by Craig Saavedra, this topsy-turvy, slightly sentimental version of "Pygmalion" will leave you with a lump in your throat and a smile on your face.

And that Northern California scenery is as flavorful and fine as a fully-aged Napa Valley wine.