What do I have in common with a middle-aged balding man from California? Practically nothing, which is why I was not too anxious to see Alexander Payne’s new film Sideways, which deals with divorce, clinical depression and pinot noir, all of which I knew nothing about. The last one is a wine-don’t worry, I didn’t know either before I saw this movie.
Miles Raymond, played by Paul Giamatti, is a wine connoisseur who can’t seem to get his novels published and has been depressed ever since his divorce two years ago. In celebration of the upcoming marriage of his friend Jack, Miles decides the two of them ought to tour the California wine country and spend a few days relaxing, playing golf and drinking good wine. Jack, an aging actor/slacker, seems to have little in common with Miles beyond their shared experience in the aging process; Jake only wants to get laid one last time before finally settling down. He drags an unwilling Miles into his schemes and, against all odds, Miles strikes up a friendship with a waitress, Maya, who he has long been attracted to. Jack has a thing for Maya’s friend Stephanie, and the two relationships play out side by side.
However, unlike every Hugh Grant movie ever made, who ends up with whom doesn’t really matter. The movie is much more about the personal growth of one man than about whether or not he gets the girl. Giamatti, who also starred in last year’s American Splendor, effortlessly conveys the personal struggles of a guy who’s just trying to get it all together. Payne’s previous movie, Election, was widely embraced by college students, in part because some part of us could relate to the overachieving Tracy Flick and her dreams of attending Georgetown. But Sideways’ ability to make me feel real empathy for a type of man who I would never run into in my own social circles-and who I would probably despise if I ever did-is a testament to Payne’s skill as a director and Giamatti’s as an actor.
Payne’s abilities are apparent not only in character development, but also in his treatment of the California wine industry. For a director whose films have rightfully been labeled pretentious and self-consciously indie, Payne shows a surprising ability to poke fun at the pretensions of wine aficionados while still conveying great respect for the history and expertise of the winemaking industry. The movie is perhaps at its best when it allows the audience to join Miles and Jack in learning the ins and outs of the different varieties of wine and the effort that goes into making them.
It is also during these scenes that the audience gains insight into the characters of Miles and Jack. Jack’s shallow, surfer-dude outlook on life is a great foil for Miles’ fastidious, self-conscious mannerisms. Though Miles’ tediously analytical approach to wine is at first exhausting, and Jack’s approach to wine comically refreshing-”Dude, they all taste the same”-you come to realize that Miles isn’t just picky. He really cares about the wine: how it was made, its personality, its history. His passion for wine reveals his real, if well-hidden, zest for life. Just as we begin to understand how Miles can care so genuinely about wine, we realize how deeply we’ve come to care about him as a person.
