Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy, On The Road, Infidelity, Marriage, Buddies, Drugs, Satire, Thieves, Suspense, Love
Tagline: In search of wine. In search of women. In search of themselves.
Plot: The misadventures begin when Miles (Paul Giamatti), an un-recovered divorcé and would-be novelist with a wine fixation, decides to gift his old college buddy and washed-up actor Jack (Thomas Haden Church) with a celebratory trip to the vineyards of the Central Coast the week before Jack's wedding. The two couldn't be an odder couple. Jack is an over-sexed charmer; Miles is a sad-sack worrier. Jack is looking for his "last taste of freedom;" Miles is just hoping to not get even more depressed. Jack is fine with cheap Merlot; Miles pines for the perfect Pinot. Indeed, the only thing they seem to share in common is the same heady mix of failed ambitions and fading youth.And yet, as they make their way up the coast, Miles and Jack soon find themselves drowning in wine and women (Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen). When Jack falls head-over-heels for a local wine pourer and threatens to call off his nuptials, Miles tries to keep his friend on the straight and narrow. But Miles's own romantic encounter with a wine-savvy waitress interferes and sends them both careening headlong into reality. Now, the wedding approaches and with it the certainty that Miles and Jack won't make it back to Los Angeles unscathed or unchanged . . . if they get there in one piece at
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 Like the film itself, the performance is deeply controlled, played with restraint and with microscopic attention to detail.--Manohla Dargis (The New York Times)
The characters in Sideways are better developed than those in the earlier films, the poignancy is just as forceful as it was in About Schmidt, and the comedy is slightly better integrated. In my opinion, this is Payne's finest movie to-date. It is a little on the long side (slightly over two hours), but the minutes fly by. It's likely that 2004 won't offer a better movie about a mid-life crisis.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh shine in this wannabe adult comedy, but director Alexander Payne ("About Schmidt") proves again that he's a pretentious wiseass.--Charles Taylor (Salon)
A very compelling, funny and important lesson about life and second chances. B+--Craig Younkin (Lee's Movie Info)
The film's dramatic side played the best with me, but almost every time the film resorted to comic relief I was left frustrated and craved for its personal notes. B---Lee Tistaert (Lee's Movie Info)
Director/Writer Alexander Payne seems to have done it again. This is twice now he has taken a subject I thought I would sleep through and turn it into a captivating story. 9/10--Tom Blain (JackassCritics.com)
Payne remains one of our more talented current directors, whose dark side relentlessly satirizes modern human folly. There remains a touch of that here with some truly funny scenes, but this time it's obvious that the director does like these characters.  --John Nesbit (CultureDose.net)
With Sideways, Payne has delivered what we expect of him by now: a charmingly moving picture about an imperfect man. He has found his manner of connecting with an audience on an emotional level, unlike any of the other hot, hipster American directors whoare all too constantly overpraised. Alexander Payne is here to stay, and Sideways is his best yet. 9/10--Aaron West (Movie-Vault.com)
Despite the honest, bittersweet approach that “Sideways” takes in its depiction of lost hopes, it’s actually a very funny, touching movie about the bonding power of friendship and the importance of making the most out of the life you have left.  --Scott Mantz (MovieMantz.com)
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| Written by |
Alexander Payne
About Schmidt, Election, The Assassination of Richard Nixon |
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| Cast |
Paul Giamatti
Saving Private Ryan, Planet of the Apes, Man on the Moon |
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 | M.C. Gainey
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Con Air, The Haunting |
 | | Sandra Oh
Bean, The Princess Diaries, Under the Tuscan Sun | | | |
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| Music By |
Rolfe Kent
About Schmidt, Wedding Crashers, Mean Girls |
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Not realizing the power of his own material, in the first place, Payne plugged in some gawkily metaphorical sentiments from the characters, along the way, which often spoil the moments that they embody.  --Danny Baldwin (BucketReviews.com)
As "Sideways" progressed to its near-perfect final scene, I found myself genuinely loving it. --Kevin N. Laforest (Montreal Film Journal)
It's a joy to watch comedy unfold so naturally, the laughs gently teased out from our growing knowledge of the characters, their imperfections, doubts and, yes, emotional pain.  --Megan Lehmann (New York Post)
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