Paul Sutton (Reeves) comes back from the war (WWII) to find his new bride is not waiting for him. Going back to work as a travelling chocolate salesman, he gets tied up with the Aragon family; a historic Mexican family who have a large and beautiful vineyard. It is their daughter Victoria that is the draw for Sutton. The story is rather special, though not entirely unpredictable, and is a rather nice backdrop to give Reeves the opportunity to play the engaging, gentlemanly, perfect but troubled veteran in this gentle drama.The scenery of the Aragon vineyard is beautiful, although I believe a lot of it is CGI, and the Aragon family are varied and demonstrate the rich tapestry of family life from the overbearing father Giancarlo Gianinni, the wise and strong mother Angelica Aragon and the irrepressible patriarch Anthony Quinn, who provides some lovely touching and funny moments. It is good to note at this point that - in light of one of those funny moments Reeves CAN sing, and the out of tune serenading of Victoria is acting!This film is what it is, a romance film, a stunningly beautiful production, well directed and with a good script. There are some moments of real tenderness and joy, and it says something about young men's experience of war and how they are left to cope with it alone. Genius it isn't, or groundbreaking, but it's really nice pretty picture indicative of the big studio star vehicle films of the time it is depicting.

This is a film that Frank Capra could have pulled off, with implausible situations and earnest, appealing characters stealing the hearts of the viewers, but with enough character development to actually achieve empathy and caring. Unfortunately, in the hands of this director, this is a saccharine, predictable bore with wooden characters that are more caricature than character. What's worse, the film wastes the enormous skill and potential of a host of seriously great actors, including Anthony Quinn and Giancarlo Gianini. It even wastes the unsurpassed skill of Maurice Jarre as the creator of some of Hollywood's greatest film scores (Lawrence of Arabia, Witness, A Passage to India, among others). The cinematography is excellent, and the settings beautiful, but the movie is a bust.

Having seen this in maybe 1996, it was a long time ago. I still remember feeling ill at ease at the acting of Reeves and even Aitana and the awkward way the plot was carried and scenes were wrenched. Now thinking about it, I remember and feel much. I wish to see this movie yet again to see why I remember the emotion I felt then, so well, so many years later. I came to like Reeves awkward style and I miss not seeing again the inner beauty of Aitana that seems to outshine her looks (not easy), I guess Italy is the luckier. It also is a fond memory for Anthony Quinn . I should try and find "The Machinist". Well then, just out of sappy compassion I gave it another star, even though I over rated it before. There is more than meets the eye.

A Walk in the clouds is based on a Italian story. This is about two strangers who are drawn towards each other despite the problems that came their way. Paul Shutton (KEanu Reaves) returns home from war only to find his wife Betty (Debra) totally indifferent towards him. Upon her insistence he leaves the town to sell chocolates and make fortune out of it. On the way, he met Victoria (Aitana Sanchez) who is returning back to her family.They become friends and Victoria tells him that she is pregnant from a man and hence scared to face her family as they are very conservative. Seeing her plight, Paul decides to enter her house as her husband and desert her the next morning that will spare her from a unmarried mother status and the wrath of her family. He enters their house and become the favorite of her grandpa though her father disliked him. When he tries to leave next morning, her grandpa asks him to wait till wine harvest. During this stay both became close to each other and understood their passion for each other.The cinematography is the real hero of the movie. Each landscape has been picturized with a painter's view in mind. Musics are too nice so as the flow of the story.