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Sideways 2004 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Alexander Payne
R, 123 min. (language, some strong sexual content, nudity) |
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Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
Producer: Michael London
Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Released: 10.22.04 (Limited) |
Rating:
  (out of ) |
Alexander Payne is a director who loves simple characters and simple lives, wrapped around the dizzying complexity of
the human condition. A look at his impressive resume (Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt) reveals both his talent and
his penchant for making films about characters reacting to life rather than the other way around. His latest effort, the
nearly flawless Sideways, discovers characters that live on a day-to-day basis, existing on the fringes of sanity.
The screenplay, by Payne and Jim Taylor based on Rex Pickett's novel, exudes the confidence of everyday routine and dialogue; it allows its characters
room to breathe and grow, emphasizing the humanity that eventually overtakes us all. This is a film that understands life,
love, and the neverending search for happiness amidst the wreckage that many people make of their lives. It's also Payne's
best film to date.
The film is driven by four tremendous performances, led by the quirky affability of Paul Giamatti, who plays Miles Raymond,
a borderline alcoholic who finds the strength to make it through each day with the help of his love for wine tasting. He is
an eighth grade English teacher, two years removed from a crushing divorce, a novel that isn't published, and trudges through life with the demeanor
of another Giamatti character (Harvey Pekar in last year's wonderful American Splendor).
His best friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), is getting married in one week, and Miles agrees to accompany him to the
vineyards of California for his two-man bachelor party. Jack is a failed actor and a man who is driven by the need for
promiscuity, yet has a soft-hearted sympathy for those around him, specifically Miles' constant depression. In between
their wine tasting and golf playing, they meet two women, Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), one a waitress
who is interested in Miles, the other a wine-tasting girl who is attracted to Jack's mid-life crisis. Although they match up well,
things begin to go south when hidden truths are revealed, specifically Jack's impending wedding. Now Miles must finally
confront his past in order to move forward with Maya.
At the heart of Payne's film is humor that pierces the dreariness of Miles' self-loathing. Miles and Jack are opposites, and
as such become perfectly complimented; when one threatens to wander into the deep end of their personality, the other
quickly pulls them back to the middle. Miles is drowning in the endless glasses of wine that deceptively conceal his pain and
confusion over his failed marriage, and Jack is the ultimate tonic with a constant uplifting zeal for optimism. Jack is losing
sight of the big picture with his neverending high-on-life attitude, which gets him in trouble more often than not; Miles is
the sobering influence that keeps him from slipping into a state of delusional bliss. They lean on each other for support,
and Payne ingratiates their mannerisms with cleverly inserted moments of levity. These are real people with real world
lives and problems.
In many ways Sideways is the male version of Sense and Sensibility (1995); one character (Jack) lives
in the moment for the moment, while the other (Miles) sees the practical but not the sublime. Of course, the result is
completely likable, and just as Ang Lee's film stressed simplicity clouded by societal pressures, Payne portrays
contemporary middle-aged men fighting back the chaotic litmus tests of today's definition of success. For Payne, catharsis
is not as important as the begrudging acceptance that life is what it is.
For Giamatti, the film is another landmark in his suddenly red-hot career; he is all but assured another Oscar nomination here
and seems to have cornered the market on lovable losers with a heart of gold. But the surprise of the film is Thomas Haden Church,
best known for his sitcom work, who takes his character to a level of measured insanity. He is the perfect foil for Giamatti's
crushingly bleak character. The solid supporting work continues with Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen, whose Maya is
certainly the best work of her career. Madsen has an earnestness and warmth that imbues the film with a much needed
light at the end of the tunnel. There is a scene here (one of the year's best) where she listens intently to Miles' description of
the pinot noir grape (thin-skinned, vulnerable, tempermental) when one can visibly see the moment that she falls in love with
him as she realizes the obvious self-comparison. It's a scene that reveals the heart of Sideways, a film that for all its
wonderful moments cannot escape the truths that propel it forward.
Sideways is such an intelligent, well-fashioned film that it hardly seems possible that two hours have passed when
the well-earned, open-ended conclusion arrives. Payne has made a film for adults that doesn't sink in the mire of clichés
or well-worn script devices, but rather one that coaxes the viewer into submission with subtlety and an eye for realism.
As Miles hurries to his new life, it's impossible not to root for a man who has, kicking and screaming, awakened from his
self-imposed slumber. It's films like this that reinvigorate moviegoers who have all but given up on Hollywood.
© 2004 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
| Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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