Somm mainly focuses on 4 people who are preparing to take the certification test as a Master Sommelier, the highest level of achievement for a wine professional.
For a person like me who can barely tell the difference between any two wines (whether red or white and even then I rely on eyesight rather than smell or taste), watching Somm seemed like it could be a waste of time. I get that some people take their wine very seriously, but watching the movie trailer I knew that these test candidates took themselves too seriously as well. For example, one candidate states that he has cried 3 times in his life: when his parents died, when his children were born, and when he passed this exam. Another candidate says, "Nothing else in my life has ever been this difficult." Well, I suspect that people sitting for the bar exam, the medical boards, and a few other objectively difficult tests would laugh with me at the tension expressed by the subjects here prior to this test. Not to say the test is easy (I would fail miserably), but it clearly is not nearly the life-or-death situation as the test-takers convey.
That being said, this documentary is well shot and edited; the leads are likable and engaging; the accompanying music is wonderful; the attempts to convey the tension felt studying for and taking this exam are effective even if a little exaggerated; and the narration educates non-connoisseurs (like me) just enough without condescension. So if you like documentaries that meet these criteria, you will like this one.
For a person like me who can barely tell the difference between any two wines (whether red or white and even then I rely on eyesight rather than smell or taste), watching Somm seemed like it could be a waste of time. I get that some people take their wine very seriously, but watching the movie trailer I knew that these test candidates took themselves too seriously as well. For example, one candidate states that he has cried 3 times in his life: when his parents died, when his children were born, and when he passed this exam. Another candidate says, "Nothing else in my life has ever been this difficult." Well, I suspect that people sitting for the bar exam, the medical boards, and a few other objectively difficult tests would laugh with me at the tension expressed by the subjects here prior to this test. Not to say the test is easy (I would fail miserably), but it clearly is not nearly the life-or-death situation as the test-takers convey.
That being said, this documentary is well shot and edited; the leads are likable and engaging; the accompanying music is wonderful; the attempts to convey the tension felt studying for and taking this exam are effective even if a little exaggerated; and the narration educates non-connoisseurs (like me) just enough without condescension. So if you like documentaries that meet these criteria, you will like this one.