SIDEWAYS

Year: 2004
Director: Alexander Payne
Screenwriters: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

Main Cast:
Paul Giamatti – Miles
Thomas Haden Church – Jack
Virginia Madsen – Maya
Sandra Oh – Stephanie

Imagine you are a screenwriter. You say to yourself: “I want to write a story about real people doing what real people usually do.” It sounds simple enough. One would say: “You just have to observe life and put it on paper. Right?” Wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Creating and developing real characters and make the story interesting and exciting is one of the hardest tasks a writer could set itself. Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor did it successfully.

Of course, another very important reason the movie did so well was that the cast fleshed the characters out beautifully, led by the fantastic Paul Giamatti. At first, it seems he is just portraying another loser, something he is very good at. However, if you really pay attention, it’s impossible to put a label on his Miles, simply because he’s a human being. Giamatti is not playing Miles, he became Miles. It’s almost as if he was temporarily possessed by another soul.

First and foremost, Miles is a depressed character. He thinks he’s had a bad run for a long time, since his wife left him. His long, intricate, apparently unreadable novel still hasn’t grabbed his publishers’ attention. He feels lonely and unappreciated. Even with all these justifications, I don’t understand his melancholy. After all, his editor still has faith on him – she’s waiting for him to complete his novel; he has his best friend, Jack, who is irresponsible and an incurable liar, but a lifelong, loyal friend nevertheless. He has a steady job as lit teacher, which is not so bad as working inside an office. I mean little things as well, like passing by a coffee shop for a cappuccino and a spinach croissant in the middle of the day. Man, I love doing that.


There is more: on the top of everything, he meets this beautiful and intelligent woman (Maya), who gives him all the opportunities in the world to win her over. And, tentatively and awkwardly, he does it! He does this incredibly moving monologue (she’s in the same room listening to him) about why he loves Pinot Noir above all other grapes and, in the end, she’s all melted. So, why does keep whining about not having done anything with his life? What does it even mean, “do something with your life”? Leaving something behind so that future generations will remember you? Is that it? If so, why is it so important to matter to the world when you are already dead? Why not just enjoy life as it comes and when you’re dead, you’re dead? Perhaps when I’m old I will understand.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the film is funny as hell, especially towards the end. Most laughs come from the interaction between the opposites – Miles and Jack. Thomas Haden Church does something with his character that many lesser comedic actors wouldn’t or couldn’t. He adds vulnerability to Jack. Sure, he is a lying, inconsequential male slut, but we root for him anyway. He has a sort of childish innocence and naiveté that makes you forgive him. Also, unlike Miles, he is always trying to see the positive side in any situation, even if it means suggesting that his best friend could kill himself to become successful, though yet unpublished, just because it happened to the author of “A Confederacy of Dunces”.

As a final note, I have to mention the lesson Jack inadvertently teaches all womanizers: do your best not to lie to a girl when you are trying to get her in the sack. You might end up wanting more than just a one-night-stand. But then, you’ve already told her unforgiving lies about yourself, which she will eventually find out about. After that, you’re fucked.

Grade: O

Link at imdb.