 The only thing I knew about this movie was that it was about Pinot Noir. I knew it was nominated for a bunch of different awards, and I had heard on the radio some people saying how wonderful this movie was, but I had no clue what it was about. Even after Paul Giamatti was on Saturday Night Live, I still had no clue what this movie was about other than wine.
I can honestly say that all the hype, all the praise for the movie, everything good you heard about Sideways is 100% true. I loved this movie. And yes it is about wine.
The movie starts off with Miles (Paul Giamatti's character) waking up late and is taking his friend Paul (played by Thomas Haden Church) on a week-long wine party before Paul gets married. This is not your standard bachelor party, but then they are not your standard bachelors.
We find out that Miles was married and is now divorced (going on 2 plus years) and Paul is "determined to get him laid." Miles with his affection for wine knows all of the places to go for tastings, dinner, and golf. Being a small wine buff, I especially enjoyed the first scene in a winery. Miles is explaining to Paul how to fully taste a wine. When it gets to the smelling of the wine, Miles starts going on and on - "Oh smell the peaches, and strawberries, and a hint of passion fruit, and oh is that a bit of oak and a smidge of asparagus and some wheat, and oh that is just wonderful." Paul of course replies, "Yum strawberries."
The main plot of the story is Miles dealing with getting over his divorce and his friendship with Paul. They do everything for each other, yet fight each other all along the way.
The nice part about this movie is that it is based on the story and nothing else. There is the occasional background music, but that is it. No long shots at pretty scenery, no blowing up of cars, no action sequences, just a story and two main actors and two main supporting actors. Overall this movie was very enjoyable. And I love the fact that some wine people are blaming this movie for a lack of Merlot sales, but an increase in Pinot sales.
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| : | Purchase Sideways at amazon.com |
| written by: | Brent |
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| Sideways can be found in the following categories: Drama On DVD |
