[Images] [Site Updates] [How I Became a Fan] [Contact] [Sign Guestbook] [View Guestbook]
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: This movie is not unlike Academy Award nominee for Best Picture, Sideways. Both are guys' road trip movies with two completely unalike male characters. Both movies are billed as comedies, but neither really is. Rupert's Land has a little less humor and moves more slowly, but also has less far pretentiousness and does have its share of funny moments (particularly those stemming from Rupert being stopped and hauled in for drunk driving). As a bonus, one of the main characters in Rupert's Land is played by Cheers demigod George Wendt. If you liked Sideways, you should definitely like this one (I did, and I didn't even like Sideways).
An informal comparison of the two films: courtesy of yours truly:
RUPERT'S LAND: Unfairly paints Canadians as oversexed substance abusers.
SIDEWAYS: Unfairly paints all men as reprehensible, self-absorbed losers.
EDGE: Draw.
RUPERT'S LAND: A journey of self-discovery in the Canadian Pacific Northwest.
SIDEWAYS: A journey of self-discovery in California wine country.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
RUPERT'S LAND: George Wendt as supporting actor.
SIDEWAYS: Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen as supporting actresses.
EDGE: Draw. Oh is fairly cute and Madsen is gorgeous - but George Wendt was Norm Peterson on the greatest sitcom of all time.
RUPERT'S LAND: Gabrielle Miller as supporting actress.
SIDEWAYS: Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen as supporting actresses.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
RUPERT'S LAND: Dale gets his ass kicked by a steroid abuser.
SIDEWAYS: Jack gets his ass kicked by Sandra Oh's Stephanie.
EDGE: Sideways.
RUPERT'S LAND: Dale gets bailed out by Rupert, who flattens an entire gang with his fists.
SIDEWAYS: Jack gets bailed out by Miles, who breaks into a house to the tune of Pat Travers' "Snortin' Whiskey."
EDGE: Sideways. Pat Travers kicks serious ass.
RUPERT'S LAND: Ends with a boat ramming a casket in an attempt to sink it.
SIDEWAYS: Ends with loathsome bastard Miles bailing out of Jack's wedding procession.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
RUPERT'S LAND: Rupert gets laid after being slipped a hallucinogenic.
SIDEWAYS: Jack cheats on his fiancee, gets his face caved in by a motorcycle helmet by his new lover, responds to that by bedding an overweight waitress, and gets his wallet stolen.
EDGE: Sideways.
RUPERT'S LAND: Major conflict occurs between the movie's two main characters as Rupert kick's Dale's ass and shoves his head in a public toilet.
SIDEWAYS: Major conflict occurs between the movie's two main characters as Miles gets in Jack's face regarding Jack's selfish behavior.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
RUPERT'S LAND: Ian Tracey as the half of the main character duo best versed in the territory where the road trip takes place.
SIDEWAYS: Paul Giamatti as the half of the main character duo best versed in the territory where the road trip takes place.
EDGE: Draw. Giamatti was superb as a pathetic loser, but Tracey was just as good and is superb in every project I've seen him in.
RUPERT'S LAND: Samuel West as the half of the main character duo who's tagging along for the ride.
SIDEWAYS: Thomas Haden Church as the half of the main character duo who's tagging along for the ride.
EDGE: Draw. West was good, but Haden Church was the perfect choice for his role, which was easily the more challenging of the two. If not for his thoroughly unconvincing teary-eyed pleas for Miles' help after losing his wallet, Haden Church would have gotten the nod here.
RUPERT'S LAND: Dale is a down-and-out type who just split up with his pregnant girlfriend.
SIDEWAYS: Miles is a down-and-out type who just got divorced, can't get his book published, steals from his mother, drinks too much and often makes an ass of himself under the influence, is mad at the world, can't stand to see anyone else happy, takes out his anger on anyone around him, makes drunken phone calls to his ex, conceals information from his love interest so as to not hurt his chances of getting laid, and deserts his friend at the end of the movie.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
RUPERT'S LAND: Rupert is a British barrister with a wry sense of humor.
SIDEWAYS: Jack is an ex-actor with a crude sense of humor, along with an endless supply of wisecracks and innovative sex terminology.
EDGE: Sideways.
RUPERT'S LAND: Dale steals drugs from a steroid freak and leaves.
SIDEWAYS: Miles steals hundreds of dollars from his mother and leaves her on the couch, drunk.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
RUPERT'S LAND: Contains a gratuitous mention of shriveled testicles.
SIDEWAYS: Contains a gratuitous shot of shriveled testicles.
EDGE: Rupert's Land.
FINAL SCORE: Rupert's Land 7, Sideways 4, draws 4.
KUDOS TO GABRIELLE: She earned a Leo Award nomination for this performance, and nobody who sees this movie would have a time understanding why. She does a spectacular job as an angry girlfriend, yet another in a long list of highly varied roles that she has excelled in.
MEMORABLE QUOTE: "Pregnant women do not carry coffins," from Trudy (Dale's mother). Not an issue dealt with every day, but probably pretty good advice nonetheless.
APPEARING HERE AND ELSEWHERE WITH GABRIELLE: Ian Tracey, who played Dale, appeared with Gabrielle in Da Vinci's Inquest episodes "The Hunt" and "The Capture." Cavan Cunningham, who played the mailman, plays Mayor Fitzy on "Corner Gas."