Sideways

            There has been a lot of press about this film and the boost it's given to pinot noir wine.  It's justified.  This story of two guys on a one week wine country tour includes a primer on wine tasting and some interesting information about pinots. 

            Then there's the film, which is funny because these two unlikely friends, who were roommates in college, are such different personalities that almost nothing goes right and when it goes wrong, it's comic.  Miles is a writer, teacher, depressive personality and wine aficionado.  Jack is a has-been actor, sexual athlete and tail chasing alley cat. 

            The screenplay is based on the novel by Rex Pickett, but I believe the success of this film has to lean toward the director, Alexander Payne (birth name Papadopoulos).  He previously directed the quirky story about Ruth Stoops in Citizen Ruth (1996) and the retirement story About Schmidt (2002) that starred Jack Nicholson.  Much of comedy is timing, and the timing of events in this film is wonderful.  Comedy also arises from the unexpected and with two such diverse characters nothing is predictable. 

            The two friends start north from Los Angeles and visit Oxnard, Sanford, Solvang and then stop in Los Olivos.  The tour, intended to be a lightweight lark, becomes an adventure that neither of the characters expects and neither did I.  There are some really funny scenes, e.g. the pair is chased by a big guy in his 'full monty' outfit. 

            I wondered about the title and decided it referred to the way you store wine, i.e. sideways.  But it also refers to the friendship of these two college friends that is sideways from both of the their lives.  And the screenplay reminds me how humanly true it is that we establish friends early, we establish relationships early that maintain a 'sideways' connection even though our life directions have split and gone off in wildly different directions. 

            Paul Giamatti plays Miles, the protagonist.  His performance carries the story and whether or not he is like the character, I couldn't tell because his acting was so good.  Thomas Haden Church plays Jack and it's the interaction between these two men that make the film good.  Virginia Madsen plays Maya, Miles' date and it's a credit to her acting that we believe her interest in Miles.  Sandra Oh plays Stephanie, Jack's date.  She is in the process of becoming the director's ex-wife.  All four of these principles bring fifteen to twenty years of acting expertise to the screen and it shows.

            My one complaint about the film is the sound level of the music at its beginning.  It all but drowns out the dialogue.  Otherwise it's very good adult entertainment.

            Reviewed April 26, 2005

            MPAA: Rated R for language, some strong sexual content and nudity.