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 122 wins & 88 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 | road trip | vineyard | middle age | wine tasting | 

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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:

Sideways

Filming Locations:

1785 South Broadway, Santa Maria, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$207,042, 24 October 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$71,503,593

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$109,706,931

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Miles and Jack are sitting on a car and Jack commiserates over the rejection of Miles' novel, Miles says "I'm a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage," and Jack praises the phrasing, saying he (Jack) could never write anything like that. Miles then informs him that he couldn't write that either, and says he thinks it was a quote from Bukowski, referencing Charles ("Chuck") Bukowski. While the quote sounds like something Bukowski could have written, in fact it was written by the Sideways novel's author, and was never uttered by Bukowski.

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Goofs

When Miles is in the restaurant by himself after the wedding, the food on his plate completely changes positions after we see a close up of the 1961 Cheval Blanc.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Miles Raymond: Fuck.

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Crazy Credits

No California oak trees were harmed during the making of this production.

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Connections

Featured in La noche de...: La sombra de la sospecha (2017)

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Soundtracks

THE HONKY TONK WINE
Written and Performed by Carl Sonny Leyland
Courtesy of High Tone Records
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

Excellent, one can say, perfect

I had known of Sideways for a long time now. Being the huge film fan that I am, I remember always seeing it get mentioned in many message boards, or websites, or critics' best-of-the-decade lists. It wasn't until now that I saw it, and the reason is because I recently saw Payne's new film The Descendants and I fell in love with it. It wasn't just his simple writing, but his direction, the feel that he gave it. Sideways was another gem, and an even better one.

This could be called a dramedy in many ways, a comedy/drama. There are many films these days getting released that could be labeled in those two genres, and yet Sideways makes it look easier than The Descendants even. What we have here is a brilliant script all around, fully fleshing out these characters. And the investment I had with Giamatti... enormous. I was on this ride with him, I felt his pain, his anger, his awkwardness when confronted with aggravating or tense situations. I found myself telling him things on the screen, and even staying at the edge of my seat in a funny situation he is put in by his friend near the end. Whereas The Descendants lived on it's script through a lot of quiet moments, Sideways blends in simple, subtle moments with really incredible dialogue. The dialogue between the two was the main difference, and yet Sideways is very much of the feeling one is put in.

I want to say the ensemble cast is fantastic. Church really made me question just how much of a friend he was, and yet still made him completely sympathetic and be able to be understood. As for Virginia Madsen... I felt like I was also falling for her like the lead. Some of her scenes, especially the conversations between her and Giammatti, she plays incredibly. She makes you feel the likability of her character, and yet also feel the sensuality and the vulnerability that she is pushing through with her shared desire. She was fantastic. Giamatti is fantastic as the disappointing lead, and although he always seems to play these sort of characters, he knows what to do to make them completely work.

Overall, extremely satisfied with this, and still here is the unique touch of real feeling for the characters that I witnessed in the Descendants. How could I not love this? Payne's film pushes through the screen what can only be described as an incredibly real connection, a connection that I honestly don't witness very often with comedies.