Three funny scenes and a lot of talking do NOTHING for this cheap "art and whine" flick set in wine country. Two luckless, whiney, and extremely chatty dudes do a wine taster's version of My Dinner with Andre. Three funny scenes involve sex. Has a dumb, dumb, dumb ending, but maybe the writer was drunk when he wrote it and forgot to give it one. A non-ending is not clever. It's just not. It's like cheap wine.
With solid performances, this film did touch the heart in a truthful way, showing flaws in the protagonists and not wrapping everything up in a pretty bow. The two buddies (Giamatti and Church) go on a wide tasting road trip to celebrate Church's final week as a bachelor. However, as they attempt to live it up, Giamatti remains a scarred divorcee who's trying to get by in life, still sulking over a losing battle with getting his novel published along with hopes of rekindling the romance with his ex. Enter Madsen's character, Mia, a fellow wine taster with a keen sense of life that is refined as her taste in wine. Their scenes together are really wonderful. However, I think this movie was a bit overbuzzed when Oscar time came, it was good, but not THAT good that it received as much buzz as it did. I just don't think that it was that extraordinary, but I do think that it's worth a look and is a more true to life portrayal of people.
This film makes you want to drink wine, it shows the complexity of wine and relationships. There's no reason not to watch Sideways, just remember to keep your brain active.
Hell, I'm probably too young to actually appreciate the film's true meaning and value but I know a great film when I see one. One of the few indie comedies I actually like.
Brilliantly observed characters are becoming second nature to Payne and Taylor, and the performances here are uniformly terrific. This is wonderful, original stuff. In Sideways, Payne has created four of the most lived-in, indelible characters in recent American movies. This deliciously bittersweet movie makes magic out of the quotidian.
A funny and smart comedy- very real and authentic. The characters are not perfect and very complex and thus come across as real, and people you could possibly know. Paul Giamatti is, at times, sympathetic, despicable and pathetic. Though not a perfect film and one that speaks to certain people, I enjoyed it and found it to be smarter than a lot of the other films out there.
"Wow. Strawberries, yeah! Strawberries. Not the cheese... "
The story is straightforward which focuses more on character development. It is easy to associate with each of the main characters. They may not be affable but what they are is human. If you can't correlate to them personally, they prompt you of a family member or close friend. On the whole, this film is for those who like movies based in authenticity, which as you will see can turn out some of the most uncanny and hilarious settings of all.
The *only* funny part to me was Paul Giamatti running down a hill chugging a bottle of wine. Otherwise I didn't empathize at all with the crappy caracters and stupid scenarios they got themselves into. Bah.
This is one of my favorite romantic comedies, and also one of my favorite movies about friendship. The acting and the screenplay are tops here, with the latter even getting an Oscar nomination (rare for a comedy). Giamatti gives a particularly brilliant performance. This movie really reminds me of the dynamic between me and one of my best friends (with Miles representing me; unfortunately, there is more of Miles in me than I care to admit). I starting drinking pinot noir after I first saw this movie! Overall, this is an excellent film, and it gets my strongest recommendation.
Real and hilarious! Makes you want to spend all summer holidays getting drunk in California, no matter how messed up your life is... Paul Giamatti?...A genius to me...
This movie always feels like a summer movie and the strip was flawless. The cast was amazing and overall so was the movie. The feel makes you feels so many emotions, but in the end you feel....strange. But in a good way.
For me, it is totally overated. Perhaps I didn't get it, so itwouldn't hurt me if I saw it again. Even so, I'm able to see what makes this comedy different from any other crap coming out these days.
Giamatti and Haden-Church play off each other so well that you'd swear they'd actually done a road-trip like this before. Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh are also wonderful as two "friends" they meet along the way. Everything flows so smoothly that this movie is over before you know it. If Giamatti isn't the master of sarcasm, then I don't know who is? Matthew Perry maybe?
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