• International Herald Tribune/AP, Friday, November 10, 2006 11:30 AM

"A Good Year," a romantic comedy starring Russell Crowe that opens today, has an unlikely co-star: Palm Inc.'s Treo smart phone. Crowe plays an investment banker from London who winds up in France tending to a small vineyard he inherited. The multipurpose phone--used for phone calls, photos, video conferencing, e-mail and even wine selection--appears dozens of times in the film. Palm said it does not pay for its TV or movie appearances, relying instead on the Treo's reputation.

"Every once in a while, there's a prop that helps define a character, and the Treo is his key tie to the world, his lifeline, as he decides whether he's going to commit to his new life or go back to his old one," says Fred Baron, the executive vice president of feature productions at News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox.

The movie is directed by Ridley Scott, who created the classic "1984" TV commercial that launched Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers.

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