Alexander Payne has only four films under his belt, but is already one of the most interesting American directors working today. "Sideways" is his latest film, which got five Academy Award nominations and won in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. Consider that it was the Academy's usual "consolation" award of the year, for those films that stand no chance for the big prizes. And even knowing the "small masterpiece" of 2004 did get a good share of nominations, not even that justifies the Academy's horrible and unforgivable decision of omitting Paul Giamatti as one of the nominees for Best Actor.
"Sideways" opens and closes with a knock on a door. One leads to a funny scene, while the other closes the film in a melancholic, but optimistic tone. Giamatti plays Miles, a depressed middle aged school teacher with a great palate for wine. His best friend is Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a has-been soap opera actor who is going to the altar in a week, with Miles being the man of honor. As a goodbye to being single, Miles and Jack decide to spend the week on a trip across California's wine country. What at first seems like a fun week between buddies turns out to be an important stage in the lives of Miles and Jack as they soon start reflecting about the choices they made in life.
Jack falls for Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a single mom who works in a winery tasting room, and it takes him only a few days to consider calling the wedding off. The fact that Stephanie doesn't know about the engagement doesn't seem to worry him so much. Meanwhile. Miles is getting ready to face his ex-wife, who he hasn't seen in years and apparently still loves, in Jack's wedding. That all complicates when he meets Stephanie's best friend Maya (Virginia Madsen), an oenophile working part-time as a waitress. While the film doesn't make it perfectly clear, and it doesn't need to, Miles does use his interest in wine as an excuse for being an alcoholic. When he learns Maya is taking a class on horticulture, not only is he surprised, but also realizes how he has underestimated her all this time. Madsen's monologue on how her character fell in love with winery is so perfectly delivered you can tell the exact moment Miles falls in love with her.
And while Virginia Madsen's turn as Maya really is a great achievement, deserving all the hype it gets, Paul Giamatti's performance is what really makes the film. The proof of how good the American Splendor star really is here lies on the scene where Miles faces his ex-wife. While attempting to look happy with a fake smile, you can see that deep down in his eyes he is attempting to avoid an uncontrollable desire to weep. Nearly as good is Thomas Hayden Church, who plays a teenager in the body of a forty-year old, a character so likable, yet so immature.
This is not a movie about wine, it's about four characters who happen to like wine. And while it does sound like a "road trip" buddy movie on paper, it is actually much more than that. Don't underestimate the film's comedic traits either, some scenes will bring the entire audience down to complete hysterics. Andrew Payne's best and most mature film to date, "Sideways" is, along with Lars Von Trier's "Dogville" and Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", one of the best films of 2004.
"Sideways" opens and closes with a knock on a door. One leads to a funny scene, while the other closes the film in a melancholic, but optimistic tone. Giamatti plays Miles, a depressed middle aged school teacher with a great palate for wine. His best friend is Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a has-been soap opera actor who is going to the altar in a week, with Miles being the man of honor. As a goodbye to being single, Miles and Jack decide to spend the week on a trip across California's wine country. What at first seems like a fun week between buddies turns out to be an important stage in the lives of Miles and Jack as they soon start reflecting about the choices they made in life.
Jack falls for Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a single mom who works in a winery tasting room, and it takes him only a few days to consider calling the wedding off. The fact that Stephanie doesn't know about the engagement doesn't seem to worry him so much. Meanwhile. Miles is getting ready to face his ex-wife, who he hasn't seen in years and apparently still loves, in Jack's wedding. That all complicates when he meets Stephanie's best friend Maya (Virginia Madsen), an oenophile working part-time as a waitress. While the film doesn't make it perfectly clear, and it doesn't need to, Miles does use his interest in wine as an excuse for being an alcoholic. When he learns Maya is taking a class on horticulture, not only is he surprised, but also realizes how he has underestimated her all this time. Madsen's monologue on how her character fell in love with winery is so perfectly delivered you can tell the exact moment Miles falls in love with her.
And while Virginia Madsen's turn as Maya really is a great achievement, deserving all the hype it gets, Paul Giamatti's performance is what really makes the film. The proof of how good the American Splendor star really is here lies on the scene where Miles faces his ex-wife. While attempting to look happy with a fake smile, you can see that deep down in his eyes he is attempting to avoid an uncontrollable desire to weep. Nearly as good is Thomas Hayden Church, who plays a teenager in the body of a forty-year old, a character so likable, yet so immature.
This is not a movie about wine, it's about four characters who happen to like wine. And while it does sound like a "road trip" buddy movie on paper, it is actually much more than that. Don't underestimate the film's comedic traits either, some scenes will bring the entire audience down to complete hysterics. Andrew Payne's best and most mature film to date, "Sideways" is, along with Lars Von Trier's "Dogville" and Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", one of the best films of 2004.