Men, Women, Wine Leads to Adventures in ‘Sideways’

 

by:  Josh Marks

 

You don’t have to be a wine connoisseur to enjoy “Sideways,” a road trip movie directed and co-written by Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt). The film, based on a novel by Rex Pickett, features two morally flawed characters. While on a weeklong visit to California wineries they undertake in some adventures and misadventures and reflect upon their lives.

           

Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a carefree actor who can only seem to get work as an announcer in car commercials, is about to get married and embarks on a drive from Los Angeles up to wine country with his college buddy Miles (Paul Giamatti). Miles is an uptight, depressed middle school teacher and unpublished novelist who steals money from his mother and lives in a messy apartment in San Diego.

           

Their differing personalities and ideas of a good time in Northern California – Miles wants to taste wine while Jack just wants to get laid – create many hilarious moments. The plot thickens when they meet two females (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh) who want to party. Their priorities of what they want out of the road trip clash. The relationships they develop with the two women force both of them to reexamine their own lives.

 

With a running time of 123 minutes the movie never feels forced or drawn out. There is a rhythm to the film in which each scene flows seamlessly to the next.

 

The soundtrack and cinematic shots of the vineyards and wineries provide an interesting backdrop to the adventures of Jack and Miles. Some classic scenes involving a golf cart, a car, and a wallet are perfectly executed by Payne for comedic effect.

 

Somehow Payne makes the audience empathize with these otherwise pathetic characters, and in doing so, makes a thoroughly enjoyable movie – even if you have never taken wine tasting 101.