I liked it. I'm nowhere near a mid-life crisis, but I suppose it did appeal to someone like me because it's about a struggling writer. I empathized with the main chacter for that reason.
It started somewhat slow, but there were definitely some hilarious scenes in the second half. I didn't really find it pretentious because most of the time it was poking fun of elitist snobs like Giamatti's character(usually the pretentious films don't do that). I didn't think it was trying to be "deep", though there was a clear parallel drawn between the grape-growing and life.
I didn't know it was by the same guy who did About Schmidt, but I'm not surprised. It's the same kind of humor; not for everyone.
