No. 42 - Sideways (2004)

In Search of Wine. In Search of Women. In Search of Themselves.

Rated: R (Restricted) for language, some strong sexual content, nudity

Director and Screenwriter: Alexander Payne; Screenplay: Jim Taylor

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh, Marylouise Burke, Jessica Hecht, MC Gainey

Movie Introduction: Struggling writer and wine enthusiast Miles (Giamatti) takes his engaged friend, Jack (Church), on a trip to wine country for a single-guy bonding experience before the wedding. While Miles wants to relax and enjoy the wine, Jack, lacking any shred of morality, is obsessed with finding his final sexual encounter. Soon Jack is sleeping with wine store worker Stephanie (Sandra Oh). Miles' connects with an old friend at a restaurant he frequents, Maya (Virginia Madsen), and learns that she share's his affinity for wine-tasting. When Miles lets it slip that Jack is getting married, both women become furious, sending the trip into a tailspin.

Defining Moment: hostile ostriches

Miles wanted a chill-filled week full of wine tasting. However, he has had to endure Jack's never-ending quest to have sex. On their final night, Jack picks up the steak house waitress, once again dumping poor Miles. Miles returns to the hotel alone.  At 5 am in the morning there is frantic pounding on the door! Jack bursts into the room, freezing and naked!  He blurts out that the waitress was married, her angry husband came home early, so he had to run for his life!  He had to walk over five miles, in the buff with a sprained ankle. He was even attacked by some mean ostriches as he crossed their field.

After hearing this tale, Miles can no longer contain himself. 

Something subtle you might have missed:  maligned merlot

Miles, who is quite the wine connoisseur (Marvel at his wine expertise on YouTube.), is vocally not a fan of Merlot. He is adamant that he won't drink Merlot even if it is ordered. As a result of this film, Merlot sales did take a small hit of about 2%, per a case study. Paradoxically, Pinot Noir, which Miles speaks very highly of, saw an whopping sales increase of about 16%. See, movies can make a difference.

Memorable Quotes:

"Half my life is over and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing. I am a thumbprint on the window of a skyscraper. I'm a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage." – Miles

"A bottle of wine is like life itself - it grows up, evolves and gains complexity. Then...it tastes so fucking good." - Maya

Dad's Review:

This film's center is the brutal honesty between two men and their hilarious bromance. The first part of my review is a small tribute to my BFF.  We grew up together, then went our separate ways. We still talk weekly. We fight like cats and dogs about our beloved Dallas Cowboys. We try to get together about once every two years. I'm East Coast, he's in the Rockies. We love to get out, play a little golf, and drink a few beers.  He's the best guy I've ever known, and we'll always have each other's back. Cheers, my brother! You are truly a dipshit, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart!

OK, onto the review... I’m not really a wine drinker, so it is a little odd that I’d love a movie centered on a trip through wine-tasting country. My future wife and I did take a tour through Napa Valley in California, and it was a blast. But that is the extent of it. I would not know a Merlot from a Rosé.

Still, I love Sideways. Like acquiring a taste for wine, I had to acquire a taste for this film, too. Thanks to my wonderful son, I have learned a bit about wine tasting. It’s a process: you view its color vs. clarity. Does it leave "fingers" when you swirl it about the glass. You give the glass a stir then breath in its aroma. Finally, you taste it and search for the nuances of flavor. Is it sweet, tart, does it have texture? What are the flavors? Are there hints of flavor combinations?

With Sideways, I initially only saw the film on the surface: two friends, taking a wine tour, that eventually goes bad. This was cheap wine: sweet, tasty, enjoyable. But I could sense there was more.

One my second taste, I began to look at Miles, and his neurosis; how his many life failures had created the man we see. He’s complicated, miserable and still crushed by the failure of his marriage. Then there’s Jack. Is there anything to this man? He’s all bravado and so over-confident. So far in life, it has served him well. He’s successful and soon to marry a beautiful woman. But we soon learn the truth about Jack – when he gets in trouble, he’s just a pathetic child. One who needs a responsible person to bail him out.

My third taste exposed the sheer comedic prowess of the script and the nuanced performances of the main actors. First, or course, are Giamatti and Church. It was a smart move to have these two men, one depressed, the other, looking for a last fling, spend a week where alcohol flows freely. Their personalities could not be more different. Their friendship is complicated. Miles, the introvert, is determined to wallow in the depths of his suffering. Jack, the over-optimistic loudmouth, is determined, at all costs, to get laid one last time. Jack endlessly prods Miles to "cheer up" (which of course has the opposite affect). Miles just wants him to "shut up". All this plays out as they gulp wine to excess, try to get in a round of golf, then go to dinner with a couple of local girls.

These actors really pull off something here, to transform two really unlikable characters into guys you can relate to, and even start to root for.

Not to be overlooked are the performances Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh. They are the perfect match to our two vacationing bachelors. Though beautiful and intelligent, they're still just local girls. Hey, they’ve both also taken some lumps along the way. As we get to know them, we really enjoy their company. Perhaps there’s something there, especially for the tortured Miles.

This film is funny, dark, painful, hilarious, cheap, under-stated, over-the-top, romantic - it has everything. Please enjoy every sip. 

Onto No. 43... A Saunter in the Stratocumuli