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MovieMail's Review
Alexander Payne is rapidly becoming one of the most perceptive filmmakers in America. After his acerbic satire of high school values in Election and the intriguing About Schmidt, his new road movie Sideways examines the relationships between two men taking a trip through the beautiful Californian vineyards. Miles, a devoted wine-lover, is still reeling from the news that his ex-wife is due to re-wed, whilst Jack, himself about to marry, wants to enjoy his last few days as a bachelor and is planning to sleep with as many women as he can. Although some of the themes of the film are potentially dismal (depression, insecurity, loneliness), the script and performances never turn maudlin. There are great moments of tragi comedy throughout (the manner in which Miles reacts when a wine-pourer refuses to give him a full glass is one of the great grotesque moments in comedy), but most of the humour is simply very funny, with droll dialogue or surprise flashes of farce.
Paul Giamatti gives the best performance in an American film of last year. American Splendor proved how adept he is at comedy mixed with pathos, yet in Sideways he transcends even this superb portrayal. Miles is pretentious (he describes a vintage as "quaffable but far from transcendent"), self-pitying and lacks self-control, but he possesses wit, compassion and has a vulnerable side that attracts the affections of a waitress (an Oscar nominated Virgina Madsen). His human failings are precisely what make him such an indelible character - the already famous scene in which he describes his favourite wine oblivious to the fact that he is in fact describing himself immediately engenders empathy in the viewer. This is a real tour-de-force, and is one of the very many reasons why Sideways is set to be a modern classic.
Commentaries by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church
Behind the scenes
7 deleted scenes with introductions
3 Easter eggs.
Film Description
Terrific road trip comedy from the director of Election and About Schmidt set in California’s wine country where Miles (Paul Giamatti), a man facing a mid-life crisis, travels with his lecherous, soon-to-be-married friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church). Giamatti gives the finest American performance of last year, and the sharp, droll script deservedly won an Oscar.
If there were gods in Hollywood outside money and blockbusters, Sideways would be a strong candidate for best picture and best supporting actors. The film is directed ... more >
If there were gods in Hollywood outside money and blockbusters, Sideways would be a strong candidate for best picture and best supporting actors. The film is directed by Alexander Payne, and like his previous About Schmidt, concerns an honest man who takes a beating (divorce, non-publication) from life, and is perhaps the stronger for it. Cast and film are uniformly terrific.
Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a recently divorced teacher who lives for wine and having his novel published. He decides to take his college friend Jack (Thomas Hadden Church) for a week of wine tasting and escapism prior to the latter’s wedding. Jack for his part decides that they are both of them going to get laid. He and Miles seem polar opposites; Jack sexy and extroverted, an actor and womanizer who can turn on charm like a tap; Miles, a teacher and aspiring writer, moody and fascinatingly introverted.
While the storyline is simple, the characters and their relationships are increasingly complex and involving. From the start, Miles is fixated on wine and Jack on women. They meet Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress who loves wine and Stephanie (Sandra Oh) a single mother who serves at wine tastings. Jack and Stephanie immediately make out; Miles and Maya take longer to form a slowly maturing, affectionate and trusting relationship.
Direct, lyrical, sad, frequently witty and invariably amusing, Sideways contains a heady mixture of vintage moments. Unforgettable scenes are Miles getting drunk in a vineyard when Jack tactlessly tells him that his ex-wife has remarried (he pulls up short when he sees two bunches of grapes hanging like breasts in the sunlight), Miles and Maya waxing into lyrical monologues on their love of wine; Miles going berserk when he learns that his novel is not to be published, the scene when he agrees to retrieve the wallet left behind by Jack when he was caught in flagrante, Stephanie beating up Jack in a moment of righteous anger, and the moment of high farce when the two men pointlessly fail to crash Miles’s car.
Unqualified approval? Not quite. Sideways needs to lose about 10 minutes, but one would be hard pressed to know where to cut so brilliant a film.
