Reviews of Sideways

Sideways review

Posted : 3 months, 1 week ago on 18 April 2008 06:20 (A review of Sideways)

Watching this film initiated my love for Paul Giamatti, the thinking man's hero. He plays an unpublished writer who suffers from serious depression and regrets about his failed marriage, and he does so with aplomb. He embarks on a road-trip with a former room mate, who is soon to marry, around the vineyards of California. His plans of relaxation, wine tasting and good clean fun are abruptly destroyed when his playboy friend (Thomas Hayden Church - who when not playing unconvincing super villains is actually a good actor) begins a lustful relationship with a young waitress they meet.

Sideways is a hilarious film littered with strong performances throughout. I'm Sandra Oh's biggest critic, but not even she could ruin the fun. As the two old men (seemingly the complete personality opposites of one another) embark on a student-like adventure, Giamatti's character develops a love interest of his own as a new hope dawns on his bleak life.

An indie film without the trademark quirky cast and edgy clichés that blight so many other films of this genre in today's day and age.

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Failed to deliver

Posted : 5 months, 3 weeks ago on 4 February 2008 05:51 (A review of Sideways)

Looking back i can't remember what i expected from this movie, but whatever it was it didn't do it for me because all i remember is feeling unentertained and dissatisfied with the experience, or lack thereof.

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[Film] Sideways

Posted : 6 months, 3 weeks ago on 2 January 2008 04:26 (A review of Sideways)

I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline - Maya

/spoilers/ A bitter-sweet comedy about life's disappointments, the film centers around the journey of a downtrodden writer/high school Egnlish teacher/wine connoisseur Miles (Paul Giamatti) and his washed-up actor friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) to the famous wine country where they meet the women of their dreams (Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh), sort of. Although the two characters have completely different personalities (one is very serious about everything while the other takes nothing seriously), both are at the crossroads of life as Miles frets over probably his only and last chance to get published and Jack over his last days as a bachelor. The portrayal of two middle-aged men who have accomplished next to nothing thus far in their lives are painfully true to life; yet the movie does not get bogged down in the melodramatics. The sadness and disappointments are mixed with tons of humour and a soupçon of irony. The charm of the movie is that it brings together the grotesque human comedies with the tragic and serious aspects of life, mixes them up and serves up a bitter-sweet dish of what life is all about.

The movie is very entertaining (even if Jack's antics can get tiring after a while), and the acting is superb. Although depressing at times, the movie is not pessimistic. The undercurrent of sadness runs through the movie but never overcomes it. For the resignation of Jack to a married life and a job in his father-in-law's business, there is the continuous strife of Miles who, one gets the sense by the end of the film, will keep on trying. Life is therefore like Miles's favourite wine Pinot, only "somebody who really takes the time to understand [its] potential can then coax it into its fullest expression."

For those who don't give up, there is hope yet.

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