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It truly is a testament to Payne's skill that 'Sideways' has come out a deeply entertaining and intensely honest motion picture..., 17 October 2004
Author:
the unemployed critic
Miles (Paul Giamatti) and his actor friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church),
are two old college roomies looking to spend quality time with each
other before Jack's upcoming nuptials. The pair selects a wine tasting
tour through northern California as an activity, which, for wine snob
and failed novelist Miles, means revisiting old haunts and familiar
faces. Right at the start of their trip, Jack informs his friend that
his main goal for the trip is to sample a variety of local women. He
quickly falls into lust with a hippie single mother (Sandra Oh, 'Last
Night'), while Miles, still seething from a divorce, hits it off with
her friend (Virginia Madsen, given a role with meat for the first time
in years). Despite the diversion, Miles finds that this trip is forcing
him to confront his miserable existence, which all his intellect and
denial cannot protect him from.
Through his films 'Citizen Ruth,' 'Election,' and 'About Schmidt,'
writer/director Alexander Payne has shown a deft hand in detailing the
ugly, lurid nature of our everyday lives while finding beauty and
solace in the weirdest places. His latest film, 'Sideways,' presents an
interesting challenge: Payne has to make an absorbing and funny film
about two losers on a wine tasting road trip. I wouldn't wish that plot
on my worst enemy.
It truly is a testament to Payne's skill that 'Sideways' has come out a
deeply entertaining and intensely honest motion picture. Adapted (with
regular writing partner Jim Taylor) from the novel by Rex Pickett,
'Sideways' is fairly problematical material to begin with, as many of
the jokes are centered on wine condescension. I'm sure some people
might find jokes about pinot and merlot hilarious, but I've always
found that this kind of material screams 'specialized audience' in a
very ugly way. Fortunately 'Sideways' doesn't stop there, but pushes
forward to investigate these two characters, and their confounding yet
utterly relatable life choices. Payne keeps the camera on Jack and
Miles, preferring a humanistic point of view for the film, and not a
jokey, elitist vibe that would be the death rattle of a fragile story
like this.
Payne loves his fallible characters, from the paint-huffing mother in
'Citizen Ruth' to sad sack Schmidt in 'About Schmidt.' The angle Payne
plays on these characters in his features is not one of condescension,
but of adoration. 'Sideways' is the first of his films to be set
outside of his beloved Nebraska, but Payne doesn't lose his love for
the average joe. He fills 'Sideways' with delightful and realistic
working class supporting characters, and extends that invitation to his
four leads, who have internal hurdles that are entirely comedic, but
also grounded sharply in reality. The ability to find a striking
authenticity in comedy is Payne's best attribute, and one that he
continues to develop masterfully.
Of course, his eye for casting isn't too shabby either. From the
outside, the 'Sideways' line-up seems a bit off, what with Giamatti
playing his thousandth schlubby character and perennial ham Church
suddenly promoted to lead status. However, smart viewers will place
their trust in Payne, whose instincts have never disappointed yet. He
smartly casts Church in the cad role (a function the actors plays
repeatedly, but very well), and hands Giamatti a character that is
familiar to the actor, but shaded differently. Miles is an open wound
of a man, drowned in self-loathing and wine (which eventually reveals
itself to be a metaphor for the character), and while Giamatti has
played this type of role before (many, many times), he does a
magnificent job finding the slippery edges to the character, forging
his best performance yet. Miles is a heartbreaker, not only because his
life is falling apart around him, but because he recognizes the
crumbling as it happens. It's gut-wrenching work, often infused with a
welcome subtlety that the actor has never displayed before.
'Sideways' rambles on for more than two leisurely hours, but never runs
out of gas. This is a tricky film; probably the most complicated
material Alexander Payne will ever face, but the filmmaker scores
another success by sticking with story, character, and heart. You just
can't go wrong with those ingredients, even in a wine tasting film.
----- 9/10
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