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 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

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

A reporter asked Alexander Payne if Miles running down the grassy hill was purposely evoking the opening credits to Little House on the Prairie (1974). It was actually borrowed, with permission, from the thesis film of one of Payne's former classmates.

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Goofs

While Miles makes his protest of Cabernet Franc and Merlot well known, the bottle of 61 Cheval Blanc is from Bordeaux, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This is entirely logical: Merlot from California is widely considered to be inferior; Cabernet Franc is a grape used primarily in blending. On their own, both wines are well less than stellar. Cheval Blanc is indeed a Bordeaux blend of Cab Franc and Merlot (and a few other grapes), but in their Bordeaux incarnations their grapes produce an excellent red wine. Indeed many Bordeaux producers use the two grapes in their Bordeaux blends; the California incarnations of the two grapes are just not all that great. Miles' sentiment is shared by many wine lovers around the world - even those from central California.

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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 At the Movies: The Best Films of 2004 (2005)

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Soundtracks

UMBRELLA INDOORS
Written and Performed by Uli Lenz
Courtesy of Arkadia Entertainment Corp.
By Arrangement with Position Music

User Reviews

Morally Bankrupt? Call me!

My girlfriend is lucky enough to be on the Screen Actor Guild Awards nominating committee this year, so the promotional DVDs are flowing in, and SIDEWAYS is absolutely the best film we've seen so far. (Kinsey is a close second.) Paul Giamatti should get a nomination for this, and I want people on IMDb to start understanding that when you critique a film, it's not ALL about liking the character-- one IMDBer commenting on this film trashed Sideways because she thought the characters were morally bankrupt, and I challenge all of you to show me a good movie where the main characters aren't! That's how the necessary element of conflict is created in a story!

Can you really only enjoy films where the characters in them are people you'd have over for dinner? OPEN YOUR MINDS! Feature Films are not popularity contests, and as far as I'm concerned, neither are awards competitions. Giamatti steals cash from his mother's bedroom dresser drawer near the beginning of the film. Morally reprehensible? Absolutely! But my heart broke for him when he did it. You could see how much he hated himself in that moment!!! Giamatti's ability to have intensely personal thoughts flash through his eyes like flickering film through a projector, all the while maintaining such beautiful stillness, was for me breathtaking. Giamatti makes you completely suspend your disbelief...he makes you feel like you have ESP!!!

Thomas Hayden Church was hilarious as his ex-college roommate/infantile thirtysomething playboy buddy who can't let go of "his plight." He's a stitch. And I agree with everyone, Virgina Madsen makes you melt in this film. She is scrumptuous. Remember, IMDb moralists,...people who live in glass movie-houses, shouldn't throw popcorn! ~peace