Although I'm very proud of being a geek, every now and then, I gotta deal with assholes. There's always somebody who hears about how often I watch movies, and how much time I spend working on this web site, and they say something like, "you have way too much time on your hands, heh-heh," or the much more brazen, "you need to get a life." Usually, I just give a polite fake laugh, but in my head, I'm thinking, "go to hell, you single-digit IQ douche bag." The way I see it, how I choose to spend my time is just that; the way I choose to spend my time. Some people like movies, some people like sports, some people like "Star Trek," and some people like getting drunk on Saturday and waking up in puddles of their own puke and piss on Sunday. What you like may not be what I like, and vice versa, and we should each respect that. Because of that, I can appreciate the wine enthusiast ("wine geek" doesn't sound right) in "Sideways." That being said...
I decided to see "Sideways" not because I was really interested in seeing it, but because so many critics seem to love the movie. As all the major critics do their year-end top 10 lists, almost all of them have "Sideways" in there, and quite a few have it at the top of their lists. So I went and saw it, and I kinda liked it, but I really can't see the big deal. It's not a horrible movie or anything, but I don't see why it's gotten all of the critical accolades.
The wine stuff in the movie is interesting, and the acting is excellent, but the story seemed pretty superficial to me. Also, the two main characters are pretty hard to like. One is a loser asshole who steals from his mom and spends his time bringing everyone down. The other is a pain in the ass who's about to get married, but is still determined to find a girl he can have a quick roll in the hay with before his wedding night. Still, "Sideways" has some funny dialogue, and it's never boring. I can't say I wasn't entertained, 'cause I did enjoy the film, I just don't think it was as great as so many critics think it is. This is just my opinion, though, and really, there has to be a reason so many critics love the movie.
"Sideways" was directed by Alexander Payne, who also directed "About Schmidt," "Election," and "Citizen Ruth." The only other film of his that I saw ("Election"), I liked, and he's definitely a talented director. But "Sideways" seems so... slight. Like all of Alexander Payne's other feature film directing efforts, the script was written by Payne and his usual writing partner, Jim Taylor. Their script was based on the novel by Rex Pickett.
Like I said, the acting in the movie is excellent, with Paul Giamatti (the star of "American Splendor") front and center. I think that Paul Giamatti is one of the best character actors out there, but I think he might be getting typecast. Still, he WAS perfectly cast in this film, and it's another great performance from him. His partner in crime is played by Thomas Haden Church, and he's hilarious. Though I've seen Thomas Haden Church in the old TV show "Wings" and the short-lived TV series "Ned & Stacey," I hadn't seen him in much else. In this movie, he adds the perfect amount of humor and life, though his character isn't much more likeable than Giamatti's. Then there are the girls. Virginia Madsen is luminous in a role worthy of her looks and talent (hopefully she won't be in lame B-movies anymore). It's about time. Then there's Sandra Oh (director Alexander Payne's wife), who's sexier here than she was in "Dancing at the Blue Iguana," even though she played a stripper in that film and spent a considerable amount of time topless. I don't know what it is, but she's really hot in this movie. Anyway, she's really good, too. The acting really is exceptional all around.
Really big fans of Payne's work will be amused by a cameo in the film. It's not a major celebrity cameo or anything, so don't bother looking for that. You have to know the movie "Election" really well to catch it. I'll leave it at that.
"Sideways" is a good movie, I enjoyed it, but I really can't see what all the fuss is about. Maybe you'll like it, I dunno, but at the very least, I look at wine very differently now.
Scale of 1-10: 7