Sideways: Movie & DVD Review by Christopher Smith

(Originally published Jan. 21, 2005)

Alexander Payne’s new movie, “Sideways,” is the story of two men who can’t let go of their pasts or figure out who they are in the present. They are former college roommates on the cusp of middle age who have remained friends in spite of having little in common, with one major exception: Each is a wreck whose future is in flux.

There’s Miles (Paul Giamatti), the failed novelist with the failed life whose failed marriage to Victoria (Jessica Hecht) ended in divorce. He’s annoyingly cerebral, cynical and depressing, but because he’s so recognizably human and has been wounded so completely by life, he’s nevertheless likable. You pull for him.

Miles’ one point of pride is the one thing that might undo him—he’s an enthusiastic wine connoisseur with a penchant for Pinot, a fragile grape that’s so difficult to nurture, it might as well be Miles himself.

Equally screwed up is Jack (Thomas Haden Church), the soon-to-be-married former jock cum actor who embarks with Miles on a road trip through northern California the week before his wedding. On their trip, they plan to get sideways at the many local vineyards hugging the highways, while also reconnecting over rounds of golf.

At least that’s how Miles sees it.

Jack has other ideas. He plans on enjoying his last week of bachelorhood having sex with any woman who will have him, and he plans to return the favor by getting his glum friend some action of his own. The women they meet are extraordinary. Stephanie (Sandra Oh, Payne’s wife) is smart, sexy, vibrant; she favors Jack. Her friend, Maya (Virginia Madsen), is a fellow wine connoisseur with an intellect that rivals Miles’. She takes a shine to him.

Since neither woman knows about Jack’s pending marriage, deceit is allowed to bloom freely amid the growing thorns of affection. The movie becomes electrifying. If word of Jack’s bride-to-be is let out of the bag, complications would naturally explode, people would have to face sudden, uncomfortable truths about themselves, and God knows what might come from that.

Working from a script he co-wrote with Jim Taylor, Payne creates one of best movies of the year, mining a depth of emotion that’s surprising given the gross emotional limitations of his male characters.

As with all of his films—from “Citizen Ruth” and “Election” to “About Schmidt”--Payne again proves in “Sideways” that he can be uproariously funny, offering huge laughs from situations that seem natural, never forced. In the mounting absurdity of everyday life, Payne’s desperate characters, in less-skillful hands, could become caricatures, but they’re not. He has too much affection for them (and too much respect for his audience) to allow them to be anything less than real. At the movies these days, that’s something of a lark, but then so are the performances in this movie.

The game cast is excellent, with Giamatti (“American Splendor”) in particular proving again, with deceptively seamless ease, how he can get to the heart of a crippled soul and make it his own.

Grade: A