Driving Sideways
Sideways, starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh
In movies like American Splendor and the just-released Sideways, Paul Giamatti has perfected his portrayal of a particular kind of modern American anti-hero, neurotic and self-loathing, yet somehow still sympathetic and capable of redemption. With his receding hairline, flabby facial features, and permanently bad posture, Giamatti cuts a less-than-dashing figure, suggesting an updated Woody Allen. But whereas Allen’s exasperation at life’s indignities, whether real or imagined, tends to the comic, Giamatti’s often veers toward the violent, precipitating cringe-inducing bad behavior. The results, though much darker, are no less funny.
In Sideways, a brilliantly-crafted buddy picture and road movie directed by Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt), Giamatti’s talents are expertly utilized. Giamatti plays Miles, a frustrated novelist and full-time killjoy still pining for his ex-wife, whom he divorced a year ago. His former college roommate, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), is about to get married and so Miles takes him on a trip to California’s wine country to share his passion—and often, pretension—for wine. Jack, a semi-successful actor, has other ideas for the trip, however, seeing it as a chance to have a few last flings before entering the halls of matrimony.
With his rugged looks and goofy charm, Jack is irresistible to women and it’s not long before he’s set up a date for the two friends with Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a pourer at a local winery, and Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress at a restaurant that Miles has known for a while but who he’s convinced is not interested in him. While Jack and Stephanie almost immediately jump into bed, Miles lets his feelings for his ex-wife and general pessimism get in the way of connecting with Maya, who nevertheless shares Miles’s love of wine and responds to his obvious intelligence.
The scenes between Miles and Maya are among the film’s best, with Maya’s discriminating palate and compassionate nature earning Miles’ respect and awakening in him visible joy at finding someone he can connect with again. The subtext in Miles’ answer to Maya’s question about why he loves pinot noir so much—it’s a thin-skinned grape that rewards those with the patience to grow it—is so apparent that it almost ceases to be subtext.
The movie is also full of laugh-out-loud moments, mostly coming out of the conflict created by Miles and Jack’s competing agendas, which provides many opportunities for Giamatti’s simmering peevishness to erupt into full-blown comic fury. As is the case with Giamatti, the talents of Thomas Haden Church, perhaps best remembered as the clueless mechanic Otis on TV’s Wings, are used expertly here in his portrayal of an incorrigible womanizer who stubbornly refuses to think of anyone besides himself.
Aside from the movie’s final third, which contains a few unnecessary scenes, Sideways is extremely well-paced and the writing is always sharp and funny. A jazzy score by Rolfe Kent serves as a perfect accompaniment to the movie, and the movie’s gorgeous shots of northern California’s wine country really help place the viewer in the mood and setting of the film’s characters. One particularly creative sequence makes use of multiple split screens to depict Miles and Jack’s visits to several different vineyards.
All of these elements combine to make this story of middle-aged malaise and redemption one of the best films of the year.
Stars: ****
In movies like American Splendor and the just-released Sideways, Paul Giamatti has perfected his portrayal of a particular kind of modern American anti-hero, neurotic and self-loathing, yet somehow still sympathetic and capable of redemption. With his receding hairline, flabby facial features, and permanently bad posture, Giamatti cuts a less-than-dashing figure, suggesting an updated Woody Allen. But whereas Allen’s exasperation at life’s indignities, whether real or imagined, tends to the comic, Giamatti’s often veers toward the violent, precipitating cringe-inducing bad behavior. The results, though much darker, are no less funny.
In Sideways, a brilliantly-crafted buddy picture and road movie directed by Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt), Giamatti’s talents are expertly utilized. Giamatti plays Miles, a frustrated novelist and full-time killjoy still pining for his ex-wife, whom he divorced a year ago. His former college roommate, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), is about to get married and so Miles takes him on a trip to California’s wine country to share his passion—and often, pretension—for wine. Jack, a semi-successful actor, has other ideas for the trip, however, seeing it as a chance to have a few last flings before entering the halls of matrimony.
With his rugged looks and goofy charm, Jack is irresistible to women and it’s not long before he’s set up a date for the two friends with Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a pourer at a local winery, and Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress at a restaurant that Miles has known for a while but who he’s convinced is not interested in him. While Jack and Stephanie almost immediately jump into bed, Miles lets his feelings for his ex-wife and general pessimism get in the way of connecting with Maya, who nevertheless shares Miles’s love of wine and responds to his obvious intelligence.
The scenes between Miles and Maya are among the film’s best, with Maya’s discriminating palate and compassionate nature earning Miles’ respect and awakening in him visible joy at finding someone he can connect with again. The subtext in Miles’ answer to Maya’s question about why he loves pinot noir so much—it’s a thin-skinned grape that rewards those with the patience to grow it—is so apparent that it almost ceases to be subtext.
The movie is also full of laugh-out-loud moments, mostly coming out of the conflict created by Miles and Jack’s competing agendas, which provides many opportunities for Giamatti’s simmering peevishness to erupt into full-blown comic fury. As is the case with Giamatti, the talents of Thomas Haden Church, perhaps best remembered as the clueless mechanic Otis on TV’s Wings, are used expertly here in his portrayal of an incorrigible womanizer who stubbornly refuses to think of anyone besides himself.
Aside from the movie’s final third, which contains a few unnecessary scenes, Sideways is extremely well-paced and the writing is always sharp and funny. A jazzy score by Rolfe Kent serves as a perfect accompaniment to the movie, and the movie’s gorgeous shots of northern California’s wine country really help place the viewer in the mood and setting of the film’s characters. One particularly creative sequence makes use of multiple split screens to depict Miles and Jack’s visits to several different vineyards.
All of these elements combine to make this story of middle-aged malaise and redemption one of the best films of the year.
Stars: ****
posted by Captain Nemo at 5:25 PM
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