Sideways ( 2004)

I find this movie very difficult to review, simply because it is so good. It is the modern classic comedy of our time and, like wine, I hope that in forty years it is ready to be opened and enjoyed even more so than today. This movie is something to be treasured every moment, from its superb acting to its careful and loving screenplay, and is a film that I think people can learn something new from after each viewing. I know that I certainly learned a lot about Pinot...

One week before Jack's wedding, his best buddy Miles (Paul Giamatti) takes him on a week long excursion into California wine country for tasting and golf. Jack's mind is set, rather, on finding a few girls to nab before he takes his vows. The result is a more sophisticated, thought provoking, and deeply emotional road trip movie about two completely different men at crossroads in their lives, trying to make it though the week with their worlds still in tact.

Miles, the central character of the film, is a pretentious, lonely, self-deprecating, divorcee who drowns his depression in wine. Apart from teaching middle school and trying to get a semi-autobiographical novel with a wandering point of view and no clear ending published he spends most of his time at wineries and local restaurants, testing his pallet and honing in his mastery of words of how to describe them. His favorite is Pinot (we learn why), he hates Merlot (we don't learn why), and where the average person can sniff a wine and smell strawberries, he will come out with, "and, oh, there's just like the faintest soupcon of like, asparagus and just a flutter of a, like, a nutty Edam cheese." That's the humor in this film. It's not for everyone, but to anyone who has known a "Miles" sometime in their life will find this movie so enriching.


Jack (Thomas Hayden Church) is Miles' opposite and other half. A moderately successful actor of soap operas and car commercials, Jack is about to secure his future by marrying the daughter of a wealthy Armenian. jack still doesn't have his life planned out, he lives in the moment, leans on Miles for reasonable advice (when he is not trying to pry a bottle from Miles' drunken hands), and seems to not want to grow up. For him, wine tasting and golf with Miles seems like the perfect excuse to cut loose and find a woman or two before he makes the biggest and obviously the scariest commitment of his life.


The two do find women, but end up getting more than they bargain for in the process, as each turns out to be exactly what they need. For Miles there is Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress with a love of wine, a calm demeanor, and a good listening ear. For Jack there is Stephanie (Sandra Oh), spunky and carefree--she rides a motorcycle. In their week they fall for these women...well, as much as Jack is able to love, and as much as Miles will allow someone to love him.

There are some scenes in this movie that I felt could have gone on forever and was saddened to see that they didn't. The screenwriters had such love for their characters which was obvious and, like Miles, they are so good with words. the script nabbed a deserved Oscar nomination for its marvelously sharp dialogue, and won it, I suspect for one scene in particular. There is a moment about halfway into the film in which Miles and Maya sit out on the front porch of Stephanie's house talking wine. They describe what it is they like about it, and finally Maya asks why it is that Miles has such a strong fondness for Pinot. In a beautiful and tender monologue he tells of the fickle grape from which the wine comes from, how it doesn't like hot temperatures or too much humidity, how it needs constant love and attention from a caring and patient grower in order to bring forth the most rich and exciting flavors. He is talking about himself, and it damn near broke my heart. he is responded to with an equally moving bit from Maya about the life cycle of wine. She responds with such intensity in her eyes. It's a speech about finding love in life.

That same scene earned Madsen her Oscar nomination, and should have earned Giamatti one as well. He was rooked out of one for what is definitely his best work and it is very frustrating, especially since this was the critic favorite of 2004; there are two actor's nominations which I most certainly would have given up a spot for. I think I feel so strongly for the characters simply because I can imagine them going about in day to day situations. they did not seem like actors saying lines as much as real people having and expressing thoughts,and dealing with complex emotions in the only ways that they know how. I related to Jack and Miles--as much as a twenty year old can I suppose--and the relationship that the two have with each other. There is a back story which is so evident, and that is very hard to do. To create a history for your own character is hard enough, but to do it with multiple people is an accomplishment worth the highest praise.

This film is a tremendous result of inspiration and talent. It is painful to watch at times, in the end it is full of smiles and chuckles. It certainly is not a laugh out loud, riotous comedy. Those sorts of laughs come from lesser humor. This is a comedy that makes you think and appreciate how spot on these filmmakers are in their view of the lives of these two men.

4/4