Sideways

A-

I'm catching up on Oscar-nominated movies before the winners are announced. I saw this at a matinee with about four other people in the theater. I had probably heard too much about the movie before I saw it and my expectations were inflated. However I saw Paul Giamatti host Saturday Night Live, which was probably good, because he's kind of pathetic at first and then grows on you; so some of that had happened before I got to the movie. Sadly the plot is all too easy to sum up: two 40-ish friends from college go on a road trip to California wine country before one of them gets married. The groom-to-be wants to get laid but he also wants his buddy (divorced) to get laid too.

Giamatti's character is interesting but mostly pathetic. He's smart, funny, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of wine but is depressed, alcoholic, and so overwrought he can't relax. The groom is just a womanizer. Though the characters are good, the only thing that saves the movie is the ending which isn't a big twist, but only the best alternative (nearly). The dialog only sizzles when the characters wax rhapsodic over the magic of wine. And that can be so technical that it really does take some solid acting to make it sound like they aren't just reading their lines.

I'm not sure this isn't one of the best movies of the year, but I still don't think this is a *great* movie. Among movies released in 2004 this one fits the Oscar mold very well which is why critics loved it and Oscar nominated it. But keep expectations low because the rewards of this movie are subtle.

A-

Back to Index