Having watched it some time ago and now thinking back about the film, I realised that I really did like it. And still do, as a matter of fact. Like fine wine, the show grows on you with time and leaves you with great moments to smile about. Metaphorically appropriate, since wine appreciation is the chosen theme of the movie.
It's great to walk into such a show, with a cast of relatively unknown actors and without any conjured image of how the film will be like. I mean... a road trip with two middle-aged men who meet two middle-aged women who're not particularly stunning, visually at least... what can you expect? Yes yes, good 'o' shallow me. But I have set the record straight; I really liked the show, the cast, the script... yup, I really loved the dialogue. I've since read through a list of quotes and wow, one single movie can have so many verbal gems in it! Credit must surely go to the author of the novel the film was based on, Rex Pickett. Note: I must grab hold of a copy.
The actors, Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, fully deserve whatever accolades and acclaim they've received for their performances. They were really a joy to watch, an unlikely pair of buddies with very different personalities and agendas, yet such chemistry between them. They didn't even seem like they were acting; they were tailor-made for their roles, not the other way round. The beauty in their characters lie in their flaws. We can all identify with their weaknesses, their perceived failures in life, their desperation for any sort of success. Giamatti should have been given an Oscar nomination at the very least and Church has since snagged a plum role as one of the villains in Spiderman 3. Not bad at all.
Forgive me if I fail to acknowledge the actresses, because they just didn't leave as much impact as the two male leads. I certainly can't see how Virginia Madsen got nominated for the Oscars, hers was a subtle performance at best, a rather forgettable one at worst. A mention though, has to be made about Alexander Payne, the director who seems to have such an innate ability to portray sad lives with such subtle impact. How contradictory and how unique. His previous film, About Schmidt, similarly covered depression in life, was also a joy to watch. I don't enjoy watching the characters go through their periods of sadness, but I'm definitely made to feel for them and feel with them.
Sideways is definitely worth a viewing, even if you have absolutely no interest in wine (that's me), which is besides the point anyway. Let it linger and grow on you.
Rating: 8.2
It's great to walk into such a show, with a cast of relatively unknown actors and without any conjured image of how the film will be like. I mean... a road trip with two middle-aged men who meet two middle-aged women who're not particularly stunning, visually at least... what can you expect? Yes yes, good 'o' shallow me. But I have set the record straight; I really liked the show, the cast, the script... yup, I really loved the dialogue. I've since read through a list of quotes and wow, one single movie can have so many verbal gems in it! Credit must surely go to the author of the novel the film was based on, Rex Pickett. Note: I must grab hold of a copy.
The actors, Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, fully deserve whatever accolades and acclaim they've received for their performances. They were really a joy to watch, an unlikely pair of buddies with very different personalities and agendas, yet such chemistry between them. They didn't even seem like they were acting; they were tailor-made for their roles, not the other way round. The beauty in their characters lie in their flaws. We can all identify with their weaknesses, their perceived failures in life, their desperation for any sort of success. Giamatti should have been given an Oscar nomination at the very least and Church has since snagged a plum role as one of the villains in Spiderman 3. Not bad at all.
Forgive me if I fail to acknowledge the actresses, because they just didn't leave as much impact as the two male leads. I certainly can't see how Virginia Madsen got nominated for the Oscars, hers was a subtle performance at best, a rather forgettable one at worst. A mention though, has to be made about Alexander Payne, the director who seems to have such an innate ability to portray sad lives with such subtle impact. How contradictory and how unique. His previous film, About Schmidt, similarly covered depression in life, was also a joy to watch. I don't enjoy watching the characters go through their periods of sadness, but I'm definitely made to feel for them and feel with them.
Sideways is definitely worth a viewing, even if you have absolutely no interest in wine (that's me), which is besides the point anyway. Let it linger and grow on you.
Rating: 8.2