Sideways
Fox Searchlight
Availability: Now
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh
The Verdict: “Sideways” has a refined and sweet taste, much like a glass of fine wine.
Movie: 3 1/2 stats out of 4 stars
Extras: 3 stars out of 4 stars
Just as wine tastes better with age, “Sideways” produces more and more heartfelt characterization as its running time elapses. Not that this self-discovery excursion doesn’t receive divine subtle flavor from director Alexander Payne’s always brewing and sometimes demented mind. But you can tell the four stars stored their bottles of offbeat talent in the coolers for a while.
Punctually, the comedy pours at the beginning. Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) hears a knock at his front door and curses in bed. He drags his tired body across his humble residence to answer the knock. After he opens the door, a man tells Miles to park his car in a more convenient spot. Then, it happens. Giamatti’s trademark grimace and frustrated utterances from “Private Parts” and “American Splendor” are back. Only this time, they’re even funnier.
It’s great team: Payne, the filmmaker responsible for the witty “Election” and the attention-worthy “About Schmidt,” and Giamatti, the consummate exasperated actor. Finding humor in unusual and unexpected places remains Payne’s strong point. He channels a wide array of subliminal hilarity from his detached and wickedly voyeuristic camera styling and reaches into his actors for subdued yet enlivened performances.
Yet without Giamatti’s genuine aggravation and Pinot-worshipping, “Sideways” couldn’t offer a full glass. The actor is a suspense film himself: you can’t wait to see how angry he can become. And uncharacteristically, Giamatti stirs in an apparent conscience for his character, making the drink all the more real.
But then enters Thomas Haden Church. He portrays Miles’s favorite college buddy, Jack, who’s getting hitched in a week. So what are two middle-aged men supposed to do? Take a road trip into California’s wine land, maybe copulate with a few female party animals, accomplish some last-minute male-bonding and taste gallons of wine, of course. Don’t be surprised if Church’s washed-up television actor steals your attention from Giamatti. Church is a sexually driven teenager wrapped in a late ’40s package. This bonehead constantly spills lovable irreverence on the film’s cool landscape.
While the antics of these two desperate and pathetic men enthrall without fail, the wine-tasting keeps coming and coming, and no, it doesn’t seem better over time. Understandably, the script shows Miles’s passion-detecting a wine’s most hidden tastes-and builds an effective metaphor, but hearing about Pinot for the 100th time may lead to self-inflicted deaf ears. This film suffers from a severe case of wineploitation, and guess what? It’s only halfway interesting.
Plus, “Sideways” should’ve poured a few scenes in the sink. Yeah, drama creates a foundation for many great works, but it bogs down the fun here. Although the film needs some dramatic punch, it’s laugh-out-loud, then calm down and get depressed, then laugh-out-loud. What gives?
Thankfully, the actresses flaunt their chops. Maya (Virginia Madsen) is the compassionate love interest for Miles, and Stephanie (Sandra Oh) is the loose woman Jack always wanted. Madsen brings more than a nice girl who also loves wine. She wants a man ignored by the world, and Madsen’s delicate performance will resonate as a thoughtful memory. On the other hand, Sandra Oh is deliciously tempting as a coquetting wine-server. She doesn’t overdo the sexiness, luring you in with calculated flirtation.
Out of the ’04 films, “Sideways” stands tall as one of the refined. A couple of flaws may awaken some bitter taste buds, but the cast and sophisticated yet wacky humor go down smooth. Bottoms up.
OK, incredible commentary track. Giamatti and Church spew comments from informative to sarcastic to just plain unorthodox, and you can’t stop listening. At one point, Giamatti can’t remember an actress’s name. His reason? “I’ve done far too many drugs in my brief, young life,” he says. It’s this kind of commentary that brings all the guilty smiles you’ll need. Extras also include seven deleted scenes, some worthless and some appealing, and a six-minute featurette, a broken bottle of a bonus. Blech.