|
|
| As
much as I enjoyed this film for the memories it stirred in me of past
trips to the same wineries, I enjoy it much more for the way it speaks
to our need to enter into life and into relationships in such a way
to experience the fullness of our lives. |
(2004) Film Review |
| This
page was created on November 15, 2004
This page was last updated on
December 11, 2004
—Overview
—Review by Benn Becker
—Review by Darrel Manson
—Blog
with Darrel Manson
—Trailers, Photos
—About
this Film pdf file
—Spiritual Connections
—Forum
Dial up modems will take a few moments |
| CREDITS |
| Directed
by Alexander Payne
Novel
by Rex Pickett
Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Cast
(in credits order)
Paul Giamatti .... Miles Raymond
Thomas Haden Church .... Jack
Virginia Madsen .... Maya
Sandra Oh .... Stephanie
Marylouise Burke .... Miles' Mother
Jessica Hecht .... Victoria
Missy Doty .... Cammi
M.C. Gainey .... Cammi's Husband
Alysia Reiner .... Christine Erganian
Shake Tukhmanyan .... Mrs. Erganian
Duke Moosekian .... Mike Erganian
Robert Covarrubias .... Mike's Building Manager
Patrick Gallagher .... Gary the Bartender
Stephanie Faracy .... Stephanie's Mother
Joe Marinelli .... Frass Canyon Pourer
Chris Burroughs .... Chris at Stanford
Toni Howard .... Evelyn Berman-Silverman
Rev. Fr. Khoren Babouchian .... Armenian Priest
Lee Brooks .... Ken Cortland
Peter Dennis .... Leslie Brough
Alison Herson .... Foxen Winery Pourer
Produced
by
Michael London .... producer
George Parra .... co-producer
Original Music by Rolfe Kent
Cinematography by Phedon Papamichael
Film Editing by Kevin Tent
MPAA: Rated R for language,
some strong sexual content and nudity.
Runtime: 123 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
|
| TRAILERS
AND CLIPS |
| |
| CD |
Sideways
(Score)
Rolfe Kent
"Sideways" is the story of Miles (Paul Giamatti), a failed
novelist, and his soon-to-be-married friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church),
a washed-up actor. To salute the remains of their youth, they take
a road trip before Jack's wedding. A serious wine enthusiast, Miles
is determined to educate Jack on the region's beloved Pino Noir, but
Jack is more interested in living his bachelorhood to the hilt. Trouble
ensues with wine and women, and the duo come to some profound realizations
as they come to terms with maturity. The jazz-based score by Kent,
whose previous collaborations include "Citizen Ruth" and
"About Schmidt", accentuates the movie's themes by matching
unusual arrangements with unique melodies. The result is a score that
captures the emotions felt as life occasionally turns on its side.
1. Asphalt Groovin'
2. Constantine Snaps His Fingers
3. Drive!
4. Picnic
5. Lonely Day
6. Wine Safari
7. Miles' Theme
8. Los Olivos
9. Chasing The Golfers
10. Walk To The Hitching Post
11. Abandoning The Wedding
12. Slipping Away As Mum Sleeps
13. Bowling Tango
14. I'm Not Drinking Any #@%!$ Merlot!
15. Miles And Maya
|
| BOOK |
Sideways
: A Novel
by Rex Pickett
Sideways is the story of two friends-Miles and Jack-going away together
for the last time to steep themselves in everything that makes it
good to be young and single: pinot, putting, and prowling bars. In
the week before Jack plans to marry, the pair heads out from Los Angeles
to the Santa Ynez wine country. For Jack, the tasting tour is Seven
Days to D-Day, his final stretch of freedom. For Miles--who has divorced
his wife, is facing an uncertain career and has lost his passion for
living-the trip is a weeklong opportunity to evaluate his past, his
future and himself. A
raucous and surprising novel filled with wonderful details about
wine, Sideways is also a thought-provoking and funny book about
men, women, and human relationships.
|
| POSTER |
|
| AVAILABILITY
ON VIDEO AND DVD |
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AVAILABILITY AND PRICING OF THIS MOVIE ON VIDEO OR DVD.
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|
|
| SYNOPSIS
|
 A
wine tasting road trip to salute Jack's (Thomas Haden Church) final
days as a bachelor careens woefully sideways as he and Miles (Paul
Giamatti) hit the gas en route to mid-life crises. The comically mismatched
pair, who share little more than their history and a heady blend of
failed potential and fading youth, soon find themselves drowning in
wine and women (Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen). Emerging from a haze
of pinot noir, wistful yearnings and trepidation about the future,
the two inevitably collide with reality. |
 Review
by
BENN BECKER
Benn
has an undergradute degree in Finance from the University of Nebraska
and is working towards a masters in both Business and English. He
owns some farmland and is currently writing a novel. He lives in
Lincoln, NE. |
 Sideways
is one of the year’s best films. Paul Giamatti plays Miles,
a middle-aged 8th-grade English teacher with aspirations of becoming
a published novelist. He is unable to move on from a painful divorce
and seems to bask in his own misery and refuses to let it go. Miles
takes antidepressants and his alcoholic tendencies hinder his progress
even more (a chemical depressant itself). Miles and his old college
buddy Jack (Thomas Haden Church) head up to California wine country
for the week to celebrate Jack’s upcoming marriage. Jack is
an actor now, doing mostly voice over and commercial work. He is
blissfully naïve and optimistic and is the perfect compliment
to Miles’ neuroses and cynicism. Jack is the friend who has
everything you want (confidence, optimism, and an ease in conversation
with women), yet doesn’t appreciate those things in the least.
His main M.O. for the week is to have as much “fun”
as possible, while entertaining ideas of sowing his oats one last
time (or two). Being a wine enthusiast, Miles’ intentions
rest solely on wine tasting and hanging out.
 The
film knows a lot about wine and especially about oenophiles (lovers
and connoisseurs of wine) and it appreciates and teases both as
well. Virginia Madsen plays Maya, a waitress and wine enthusiast
who knows Miles from his previous trips to the area and Sandra
Oh plays Stephanie, a wine pourer from the local vineyard. Turns
out Stephanie and Maya are friends. Stephanie has fallen for Jack,
while Maya and Miles in the past have shared a more platonic attraction
based on a common love of wine. One night the four go out and
end up at Stephanie’s house. There a dialogue moment occurs
between Miles and Maya on the porch that I won’t soon forget.
It’s one of the most beautiful on film this year and marks
a turning point in the two characters’ feelings for each
other. Miles discussing why he prefers Pinot wine and Maya‘s
response:
MILES:
"It's a hard grape to grow. It's thin-skinned, temperamental.
It's not a survivor like Cabernet that can grow anywhere, and
thrive even when neglected. Pinot needs constant care and attention."
MAYA:
“I like how wine continues to evolve … Like if I open
a bottle today, it would taste different than if I’d opened
it on any other day … because a bottle of wine is actually
alive.”
The
lines don’t look like much on paper, but in the moment and
context of the film, they mean oh, so much and carry a lot of
depth.
Alexander Payne is one of my favorite directors. I absolutely
loved About Schmidt
and he manages to do some of the same things in this film as well.
He takes characters who do things we don‘t agree with, yet
makes it possible to empathize with them (and often laugh at them).
We see how they create their own problems and are their own worst
enemies, yet haven’t we all done/been that at times? In
this film he takes what could have been a regular buddy-road film
and makes it into a whole lot more. Payne’s films seem to
have a tenderness lying below the surface, which looks at its
characters adoringly despite themselves. That is something we
could all take to heart.
|
 Review By
DARREL MANSON BLOG
Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important
film. |
 I'm
not as much of a wine snob as Miles in Sideways
(at least I hope I'm not), but I have often enjoyed the ritual wine
tasting that is portrayed in the film. I've been to the Santa Ynez
Valley and visited many of the same wineries and the wonderful restaurants,
so in some ways, Sideways is very familiar.
But it's not really about wine tasting and travel.
In Sideways we see Miles and his friend
Jack as they head up to Santa Barbara County to have a guys' week
of fun. Miles is a middle school English teacher who wants to write.
He has a manuscript for a novel that is being rejected by publishers.
He is still trying to bounce back after a divorce. Jack is an aging
actor, once a regular (but not a star) on TV, now limited to voice-overs
in commercials. Jack is to be married in a week (which is the reason
for their trip?a sort of prolonged bachelor party).
 It's
not long before we see that these two guys are both struggling in
their lives. Miles is depressed and needy. He needs to see himself
as a step above the average person. He's dissatisfied with his life,
so he writes unpublishable novels and enjoys being a wine connoisseur.
He is in his element while teaching Jack the right way to taste wine.
Then he can feel superior.
Jack has his own set of needs. He needs to be recognized. He needs
to know that the fame he once had hasn't passed. He trades off that
fame, thinking that those who think that it makes him special actually
love him.
While on their trip, they connect with Maya and Stephanie, two local
women, one a waitress, the other who works in a wine tasting room.
The four of them begin friendships that are wrongly based in Miles'
and Jack's neediness. The relationships begin to grow?Jack and Stephanie
sexually, Miles and Maya more intellectually. But because the men
are both essentially selfish (and dishonest), the relationships are
doomed.
It should be noted that Jack and Miles behave very badly. As we watch,
it doesn't take long to label both of them as losers (so much so,
that it raises a question as to why Stephanie and Maya would be attracted
to them), but underneath that, we get a glimpse of vulnerable people
who deeply need (as we all do) to be loved.
Getting back to wine tasting. One of the things that I enjoy when
visiting wineries is the chance to discover something new and wonderful.
Maybe a new winery. Maybe a great bargain. Maybe a special wine? and
I'm a sucker for a well-done wine. In Sideways
as we visit a few wineries, we discover a wonderful set of metaphors?and
I'm also a sucker for a well-done metaphor.
The whole experience of wine tasting can be compared to the building
of a relationship. At first we may judge things by their outward appearance
as we would consider a wine's color and clarity. We begin a relationship
tentatively as we do with the first experience of breathing in the
wine. Then we start looking deeper as when we swirl the wine and smell
again. Finally we are ready to drink of the full relationship and
discover what is there.
There is a brilliant scene in the film where Miles and Maya are sitting
on a porch in what should be developing into a romantic moment. They
begin to talk about wine and share a pair of beautiful soliloquies.
Miles, when asked why he is so attracted to Pinot Noir, speaks of
how frail the grape is and about the care and nurture that it needs
before it can become good wine. Maya, when asked what she likes about
wine, rhapsodizes about the life of wine and the way it continues
to live and change moment by moment. The things they say are true
about wine. But as we listen to them, we also know that the things
they are saying is not so much about wine as it is about themselves.
More, it is also true about the relationship that both of them crave.
As much as I enjoyed this film for the memories it stirred in me of
past trips to the same wineries, I enjoy it much more for the way
it speaks to our need to enter into life and into relationships in
such a way to experience the fullness of our lives.
At their first winery, after Miles has led Jack through all the preliminaries,
Jack, growing impatient asks, "When do we drink?" Then Miles says,
"Now."
Drink up.
—Blog
with Darrel Manson
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ON THIS FILM |
| —Blog
with Darrel Manson
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