Sideways (2004)
The Cast
Paul Giamatti .... Miles
Thomas Haden Church .... Jack
Virginia Madsen .... Maya
Sandra Oh .... Stephanie
This is the seventh time this movie has been reviewed here at T5R, so I'm probably not going to have anything groundbreaking to offer you in an analysing sense. Going into the movie, I had a feeling that it was one of my kinds of movies, the ones that the mass movie-going public tend to dislike, but achieves much critical acclaim & a pseudo-cult following. In the past, I probably would've championed the hell out of this movie, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to identify with movies whose subject matter delves somewhat deeply into depression, self-destruction, romantic mishaps, etc., especially if it's intended to be in a comic manner.
Perhaps it's because I've become happier in my life lately, even though not much has changed other than eliminating certain undesirables from my life. For Miles (Giamatti), life just seems to be beating him down bit by bit, with every little disaster threatening to send him over the edge into full-blown alcoholism, if not a suicidal funk. With his best friend Jack (Church) getting married shortly, Miles decides to take his friend for a week as a sort of last taste of freedom & fun. The events that follow in that week fall into many categories, but all contribute to each of the characters' growth.
At times Miles comes across as far too elitist for his own good (think Barry in High Fidelity), especially when it comes to a potential romantic interest in the lovely Maya (Madsen). His realisation of previously unthought of depths to Maya's personality & interests is one of the defining moments of the film, as well as one of the most affective. Meanwhile, Jack is just trying to get his rocks off as much as he can before his impending nuptials. When he meets Stephanie (Oh) at one of the wineries along the unofficial tour, he's seemingly found his dirty little solution.
With accomplished director Alexander Payne at the helm, the movie functions well as a dramedy, though many audiences will be turned off by many little quirks Payne seems to have. Chief amongst them seems to be Payne's usage of uncomfortable nudity, even though it's realistic to about 98% of the audience. When we watch movies, generally speaking audiences don't want to see a fat old guy's cock, nor his somewhat plump wife's boobs. We watch movies to escape reality, but Payne enjoys shoving reality right back in our face (see Kathy Bates' nudity in About Schmidt for further proof). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just one trait that Payne has employed on multiple occasions to show us how rooted in reality many of his movies are.
All in all, the movie seems to mature as much as the characters onscreen do. Which - depending on the character - seems to be a helluva lot of growth for one crazy drunken week. It's an enjoyable enough movie, if you're prepared for just how bleak & superficially empty the characters in an Alexander Payne movie can be. It occasionally brings the funny, while also showing the heart & emotions of the main cast, all the while telling an alright story. 3.5 outta 5.