Sideways
Director: Alexander Payne
With: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church
Runtime: 123 min
When was the last time you saw a film about a middle-aged, balding failed writer/wine connoisseur and his friend, an about-to-get-hitched flailing actor, embarking on a week-long stag night around the vineyards of California? Granted, the subject matter is not entirely new; indeed ‘a week in the life of…’ and ‘the road trip’ are not novel concepts in film. However, Sideways manages a more than decent attempt at being original.
As in Payne’s previous work, About Schmidt there is a sense of voyage and melancholy and the sophistication of the characters, as well as humour, leaving you either laughing hysterically or weeping uncontrollably. Or both. On paper, the two men, Miles (Giamatti) – the short, tubby deep-thinking alcoholic who really only wants to sample the wine - and Jack (Haden Church) – the tall, attractive, charming, ex-soap actor who wants to have promiscuous sex before his wedding - are so different in their mentalities, that it’s hard to believe they could ever be friends. But the chemistry between the characters, as well as superb acting diminishes any lack of belief and one quickly becomes comfortable watching them together.
Inevitably, one learns a lot about wine; for instance, did you know that it’s alive(!) and that a 1961 Cheval Blanc would be ‘peaking’ around now? Thought not. Miles, in one of his heartfelt monologues, describes his favourite wine, the Pinot Noir, as being “an incredibly thin-skinned and temperamental grape, needing constant care and attention, so only the most patient and nurturing of growers is successful in cultivating it.” One can’t help but see this as in fact an assessment of his life in which he is desperately seeking nurturing himself. The recipient of this comment, a beautifully serene Virginia Madsen, gives an equally moving performance as Maya, the woman who captures Miles’ affections.
There’s not much to fault in this well-directed film, but it left me feeling numb. Giamatti himself revealed he found the film “depressing” and “grim”. To be honest, it depressed the hell out of me, despite its hopeful message. I left the cinema wanting to cry, with the line “you can’t kill yourself before you get published”, still ringing in my ears. Of course a lot of the desolation is camouflaged by the fantastically wry script and almost slapstick nature of events, as well as a couple of laugh-out-loud scenes, mostly thanks to Jack’s frantic sexual escapades.
In all, it’s not the best film of the year, although it has earned a Best Picture nomination at this year’s Oscars. Yet this deceivingly complex film is like a misunderstood middle-aged teenager, desperate for love. See it before it gets ruined by over-exposure.
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