Sideways (2004)

Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.

Director:

Alexander Payne

Writers:

Rex Pickett (novel), Alexander Payne (screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen

Won 1 Oscar. Another 120 wins & 82 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Giamatti	...	Miles
Thomas Haden Church	...	Jack
Virginia Madsen	...	Maya
Sandra Oh	...	Stephanie
Marylouise Burke	...	Miles's Mother
Jessica Hecht	...	Victoria
Missy Doty	...	Cammi
M.C. Gainey	...	Cammi's Husband
Alysia Reiner	...	Christine Erganian
Shake Tukhmanyan	...	Mrs. Erganian (as Shaké Toukhmanian)
Shaun Duke	...	Mike Erganian (as Duke Moosekian)
Robert Covarrubias	...	Miles's Building Manager
Patrick Gallagher	...	Gary the Bartender
Stephanie Faracy	...	Stephanie's Mother
Joe Marinelli	...	Frass Canyon Pourer

Storyline

A week before his friend Jack is to be married, best man Miles and the prospective groom head off to wine country for a week of fun, relaxation and - of course - wine drinking. Miles is the oenophile and does his best to teach Jack a bit about the art of appreciating great wine. All Jack cares about is drinking and carousing, something he accomplishes when he meets the attractive Stephanie at one of the vineyards. Miles is something of a sad sack, a high school English teacher who is a failed writer at heart. He has yet to get over the fact that his wife has divorced him and that she has remarried and he now faces that nerve racking wait for word from a prospective publisher. Miles has an opportunity to start anew when he meets Stephanie's friend Maya but when he let's slip that Jack is about to be married any hope of a relationship seems to be lost.

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Plot Keywords:

wine | writer | california | actor | teacher | 

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Taglines:

In search of wine. In search of women. In search of themselves.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some strong sexual content and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Fox [Spain] Fox Searchlight

Country:

USA Hungary

Language:

English Armenian

Release Date:

21 January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Entre copas

Filming Locations:

1785 South Broadway, Santa Maria, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$207,042 (USA) (22 October 2004)

Gross:

$71,502,303 (USA) (13 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Michael London Productions, Sideways Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Goofs

Miles unwraps the bunch of money he finds in his mother's drawer.In the next shot it is clear that the currencies he is holding were never wrapped.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Miles Raymond: Fuck.

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Crazy Credits

Editorial Cat - Lulu

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Connections

Featured in Fuck (2005)

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Soundtracks

ONE YEAR AFTER
Written and Performed by Uli Lenz
Courtesy of Arkadia Entertainment Corp.
By Arrangement with Position Music

User Reviews

A Payneful Comedy

Alexander Payne is becoming a magnet for me. I wait for his films. He is an eminently American director that can look in with the incisive eye of an incisive foreigner. Besides all that, he is a poet. In "Election" he gives us an electro shock disguised as a Teen College Comedy. I laughed in horror at the cleverness of the storytelling. In "About Schmid" he forces us to look into one of the darkest corners of our society and find ourselves there. And he does it in the funniest most entertaining way. In "Sideways" he trusts his audience enough to put impossible hurdles for us to love his characters -- Paul Giamatti and his mother's money, for instance -- and yet, we have to admit he's made his point. We are all people. He manages to surprise us with our own capacity for compassion. Vittorio De Sica, Billy Wilder and Mario Monicelli come to mind. Yes Mr. Payne you are the ticket!