Saturday, March 12, 2005

"I Am Not Drinkin' Any Fucking Merlot!"

Just got back from seeing "Sideways." Man, what a fucking great movie.

Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church star as Miles and Jack, two middle-aged buddies taking a trip into California wine country as a weeklong bachelor party before Jack's wedding. Miles is an alcoholic failing writer who's still not over his divorce two years ago; Jack's a forty-year-old adolescent voice-actor obsessed with fucking everything that moves. Jack quickly hooks up with Stephanie, a wine-pouring single mom, while Miles pines over Maya, a waitress and fellow wine enthusiast. And hilarity ensues.

The brilliance of the film (aside from great performances from the whole cast, and Paul Giamatti in particular was fucking robbed by the Academy) is, I think, its craft. The use of wine as a contextual symbol, the camera angles of the two centric speeches by Miles and Maya, and the overall pacing highlight the emotional beats. It just tells the story fucking perfectly. There are plenty of visual moments that border on the beautiful.

And I have to say, I identified with Miles quite a bit. No shock there; he's where I'm afraid of being in twenty years. There's a beautiful moment where he laments that he can't even achieve noteriety by killing himself, because he hasn't been published yet. Rex Picket (author of the novel on which the movie is based) really opened a vein there. So I found myself liking Miles while simultaneously being disappointed in him when, as he does so frequently, he fucks up. Thinking on it, actually, his and Jack's relationship is very similar to that between me and my brother, so that probably helped my appreciation of the movie, too. They're both weak men in their own ways, who wish they could be stronger. I think a lot of people can appreciate that.

It's a funny movie, too, definitely a wonderful character-driven comedy. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments for people who are paying attention. Plus, there's a fat naked guy. Can't go wrong there.

For the first movie I've seen in theaters this year, it's not too shabby.

Catch it in theaters if it's still playing in your area, or on DVD. It's two hours you won't miss one bit.

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