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Sideways Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: R (for language, some strong sexual content, and nudity) Theater release: October 22, 2004 by Fox Searchlight Pictures Directed by: Alexander Payne Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes Cast: Paul Giamatti (Miles Raymond), Thomas Haden Church (Jack), Virginia Madsen (Maya), Sandra Oh (Stephanie) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

I like to think of Sideways as 2004's Lost in Translation—the little film that could, immediately garnering rave acclaim in its limited release. This one is guaranteed to make a lot of critics' year-end best-of lists and earn a fair share of Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. I only wonder what the average filmgoer will make of it, since it includes some considerable potentially offensive content—not to mention so many hated the much-lauded Lost in Translation.

To be fair, people will probably find the characters and storytelling in Sideways easier to follow and relate with. Director Alexander Payne (Election, Citizen Ruth) last offered moviegoers About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson, a film about post-retirement life that tickled the funny bone while simultaneously breaking the heart. Sideways does the same thing for the midlife crisis with a script co-written by Payne and his longtime collaborator Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Rex Pickett.

Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church in the lead roles

Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti of American Splendor) is a middle school English teacher still coping with a divorce two years after the fact. In his spare time, he's a wine connoisseur (perhaps too much of one) and a hopeful novelist, trying to get his doomed title The Day After Yesterday published. At the film's start, Miles is about to serve as best man in the wedding of his college buddy, aspiring actor Jack, played by Thomas Haden Church (Lowell Mather of TV's Wings). As a final bachelor's present, the two take a road trip to explore California's "wine country" for some tasting and golfing the week before Jack's wedding.

These two are the modern odd couple, a mismatch on the surface—Felix and Oscar, Costanza and Kramer. Miles has refined tastes with a cautious and neurotic personality. Jack is carefree, crass, and libidinal. But they share a personal history together and neither one has accomplished the dreams they hoped for. Plus, both have personality traits and insights that complement. If only they listened to each other more often.

Miles (Giamatti) and Jack (Church) do some winetasting … LOTS of winetasting

Contrary to Miles' simple plans for two old friends to have fun, Jack intends to enjoy his "last week of freedom" by getting as much action as possible with the ladies for himself and his worrisome buddy. Things take a dramatic turn when they visit a restaurant & bar called The Hitching Post (natch), a regular haunt for Miles when visiting the area. They meet a waitress named Maya (a radiant Virginia Madsen), whom Miles has known for years, but he's reluctant to make a move because of his recent divorce and his uncertainty of whether she's interested in him. The next day, they meet a flirtatious pour woman at a winery named Stephanie (Sandra Oh of Under the Tuscan Sun), who conveniently happens to be a friend of Maya and seems all too willing to reciprocate Jack's desires.

Despite Miles's protestations—on his behalf and Jack's best interests as a groom-to-be—the four end up on a double dinner date. Can Miles overcome his hang-ups and develop a relationship with Maya? And can he do so in good conscience when it stems from the lie that Jack is available for Stephanie?

The film's title is a reference to the proper storage for aging wine, though it could just as easily been called "Stalled." The protagonists seem unable to make forward progress in their middle-aged doldrums—"Half my life is over, and I have nothing to show for it," despairs Miles. He's pushing 40, newly single, childless, and still stealing money out of his mother's dresser. Is it any wonder that he collapses over news that his ex-wife has remarried? But Jack is no more put together, evidenced by his lackadaisical attitude and the fact that he can take a call from his fiancée on the cell phone, only to pursue his selfish libido after hanging up. Which one is worse off? The one who seems to have everything going for him, yet willing to casually throw it all away? Or the one trying to find his way but is too afraid and damaged to move forward?

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