It’s been a while since I did a movie post, but last night I finally watched a film that I’ve wanted to see for years and I felt inspired to say a few things about it.
Sideways (2024)
I caught a bit of this film years ago when it was showing on TV late one night. I’d never heard of it at the time but it got my attention straight away. Since I’d come into it over half way through though I decided to turn it off and watch it from the start as soon as I got the chance. Little did I know that would be more than ten years later…
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a dark comedy drama starring Paul Giamatti (Lady in the Water), Thomas Haden Church (We Bought a Zoo), Virginia Madsen (Candyman) and Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) among others.
It’s based on the book of the same name by Rex Pickett and it won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
“Two friends reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.”
As a 44 year old man who’s never done anything you’d call “extraordinary” I really related to this movie. Growing up I often heard the term “midlife crisis” but I always linked it to middle-aged men buying sports cars. I never really understood exactly what it all meant. Sadly, now I understand all too well. It’s a sad and frustrating experience to reach a point in your life where you feel you’re past your prime and you haven’t achieved any of the things you always thought or hoped you might. There’s still always time to make a mark of course, but nothing makes you feel “old” like the realisation that you’re over half way through your life with your “best days” behind you.
As depressing as that sounds, this film explores those themes but manages to put a brilliantly comedic spin on things.
Thankfully, one thing that keeps me young and stops me falling into a well of midlife despair is friendship. I’m lucky enough to have a small circle of good friends and I always feel so alive when I’m with them; laughing, drinking, talking nonsense and generally taking the piss out of other. If we happen to be on a road trip somewhere it adds a whole other dynamic to the situation. There’s just a feeling of complete and utter freedom like we had when we were young.
I imagine it’s for this reason that I love road trip movies. Green Book (2018), Dumb and Dumber (1994), Chef (2014), The Sure Thing (1985) and of course Road Trip (2000) are some of my favourites. It’s not just the physical journey that the characters go on in these movies that I enjoy, it’s the metaphorical one that I tend to like most about them. Sideways is no exception to that.
The story is essentially about two friends, both very different and with completely different things going on in their lives cutting loose for a week and getting up to various shenanigans. Unlike some other road trip movies though this one is extremely intelligent and really explores the two main characters and their relationship with each other. It’s that part of it that I liked the most, because despite their constant bickering throughout the film they’re there for each other through thick and thin. As someone who values friendship above pretty much everything else I really related to the realistic take on theirs.
The performances in the film are superb. Paul Giamatti is absolutely brilliant as a barely-hanging-on, depressed and obsessed wine fanatic who just wants to spend a week away with his buddy drinking wine, while Thomas Haden Church who I’ve always found extremely underrated, is hilarious as the laid back groom-to-be who’s determined to get laid one last time before he ties the knot the following weekend.
The two characters are so at odds with each other that you wonder how they could’ve ever been friends, but their chemistry is so good that you genuinely believe they were college roommates and have been friends their whole lives. Giamatti brings much of the drama while Church provides the majority of the comedy.
Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh are the only two other significant characters but a couple of scenes between Giamatti and Madsen are among the best in the film.
If you’re a wine connoisseur or just like the odd glass in general, you’ll no doubt love that there’s so much of it in the film (I know I found myself wanting a glass or two). The region the movie was filmed in (southern California’s Santa Ynez Valley) is beautiful and makes for some nice cinematography. It’s surprisingly educational too, and I now have more appreciation for the different types of grapes than I did 24 hours ago.
Interestingly, much like Top Gun (1986) caused the sale of aviator sunglasses to skyrocket and saw a 500% increase in naval recruitments in the months following its release, Sideways drew attention to, and was responsible for an increase in tourism to the Santa Ynez Valley. It also caused Pinot Noir sales to increase by 16% in the western United States (thanks to a particularly moving scene where Giamatti’s character Myles explains why it’s his favourite wine). Incidentally at the same time the film was responsible for a 2% drop in Merlot sales due to his rant about it in a now infamous scene in the movie. This slump in sales apparently lasted for two decades leading social psychologists to dub the phenomena “The Sideways Effect”. It’s crazy the impact films can have on real life!
This film is both heartbreaking and hilarious (just not in the usual sense). It has a great story, well written characters, excellent performances, a simple yet effective score that hits all the right notes both comedically and emotionally, and it explores themes that I’m sure all of us over a particular age and after certain experiences can relate to.
Personally I’m glad it took me so long to finally watch it. If I’d watched it in my early thirties I don’t think I would’ve connected to it on the same level. Maybe it’s not so bad getting older after all…
Seen it? Let me know what you think.
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