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Take two guys, quite average, but different. One an introvert and the other an extrovert, but they hit it off with each other. When one of them decides to get married, they take a week off by themselves, something like a men’s week off, shades of a bachelor’s party limited to two. Excellent premise. How this plan is executed however, in Sideways is somewhat suspect and rather meandering, touching on stuff that could have been avoided to make it racy and entertaining. Miles (Paul Giamatti) is an unsuccessful writer whose 750-page novel is yet to find a publisher. Jack (Thomas Haden Church) is a part-time actor, outgoing and fun-loving, he’s the one who’s getting married but wants one wild sexual encounter before that. The locale is California, the wine-growing region. Since Miles is hung up on wine, he takes his less-interested friend on this week of wine-guzzling. So these middle-aged guys are out to discover wine, women and probably themselves. The title refers to the wine bottles stored sideways and also their respective growths which is far from vertical. So far, so good. Miles shows Jack how to do it, that is the tasting. "Thick or thin, watery or syrupy," roll the stuff in the wine glasses, says Miles. "When do we drink," enquires Jack. Now this duo is off to a good start. But then scriptwriters Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor take a rather long-winded route in the Californian wine country. That the screenplay should have been nominated for an Oscar is indeed surprising. They run into two waitresses, Maya (Virginia Madson), reticent, quite intellectual, in fact studying for a degree in horticulture, and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a motorbike freak looking for adventure. Both are divorcees. As expected, Jack doesn’t waste time making his intentions clear whereas Miles is slow, thoughtful and indecisive, a study in contrasts. This odd couple could have even matched Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau if director Alexander Payne realised that brevity is the soul of wit. He also has good talent at his disposal. Paul Giamatti has that look of innocence and gets well under the skin of the Miles character and Thomas Haden Church is not far behind. That the transformation of characters is not credible can be overlooked because it is a comedy. Pretty Virginia Madson reminds one of a young Meryl Streep and Sandra Oh is plain but effective. Phedon Papamichael’s camerawork captures the beauty of that wine-growing district beautifully and Rolf Kent’s music is another embellishment. It is the story that takes a drubbing as it plods on to all of 127 minutes by which time a good subject is almost totally ruined. If only the film had been reduced by at least 30 minutes it would have made a world of a difference. |
