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Sideways
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Alexander Payne
Produced by	Michael London George Parra
Written by	Story: Rex Pickett Screenplay: Alexander Payne Jim Taylor
Starring	Paul Giamatti Thomas Hayden Church Virginia Madsen Sandra Oh
Music by	Rolfe Kent
Cinematography	Phedon Papamichael
Editing by	Kevin Tent
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight
Release date(s)	October 22, 2004
Running time	123 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$16,000,000
Gross revenue	$109,502,303
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Sideways is a 2004 Academy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-winning comedy/drama film, co-written and directed by Alexander Payne.

It is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Rex Pickett.^[1]

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Cast 3 Critical reaction 4 Awards and nominations 5 Post-release 6 Trivia 7 Soundtrack 8 Footnotes 9 External links

Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a single divorcé, unpublished writer, eighth-grade English teacher, depression sufferer, and oenophile, who takes his soon-to-be-married actor friend and old roommate from his days in college at San Diego State University, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), on a week-long road trip through Santa Ynez Valley wine country.

Miles wants to drink wine, eat great food, play golf, enjoy the scenery, and send Jack off in style. However, Jack is more interested in "sowing his wild oats" and having one last sexually libertine week. Soon after their arrival in wine country, they meet Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress at Miles' favorite restaurant, and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a winery employee who happens to be friends with Maya.

Neither tells the women about Jack's impending nuptials the next weekend. Jack soon finds himself in a sexual and romantic imbroglio with Stephanie, which inevitably puts an abrupt end to Miles' plan for taking Jack out for a good time. Although more than a little reluctant, Miles is willing to entertain Jack's antics, convinced of the temporary nature of his newfound relationship with Stephanie. Miles' decision to indulge Jack's philandering ways is also influenced by his decision, with Jack's strong encouragement, to begin to act on the crush he's developed on Maya. Soon, Jack's relationship with Stephanie accelerates, putting Miles in a precarious predicament as he continues to court Maya casually.

Eventually, Miles consummates his relationship with Maya. The next day, he lets slip the upcoming rehearsal dinner, which leads to his revelation of the upcoming wedding. An infuriated Maya, in turn, breaks the news to Stephanie, who becomes apoplectic and mercilessly attacks Jack, smashing his nose with her motorcycle helmet, which requires him to get medical treatment at a hospital. Miles and Jack later have a tense conversation where Miles flatly denies that he ever said anything about Jack's engagement to Maya.

Miles hopes that this is the end of Jack's behavior as they settle down to a barbecue dinner. Undaunted, Jack spots Cammi, a heavy-set waitress, who recognizes Jack and whom he dubs 'two tons of fun'. He goes home with her, leaving an irritated Miles once again to his own devices.

Back at the hotel, Miles is awakened in the middle of the night by a naked Jack, who confesses that a cuckolded husband arrived home from work and caught Jack in flagrante delicto with his wife, and he was forced to escape in the nude and run "five klicks" (3 miles) back to the motel.

A distraught Jack reveals that unfortunately, he left his wallet behind, which contained custom-designed wedding bands. He desperately wants to retrieve his belongings, but needs Miles' help. Initially, Miles laughs at the situation and refuses to help Jack, as he believes the incorrigible skirt-chaser may finally have learned a lesson. However, Miles sees the desperation in his friend's breakdown, and agrees to help him by driving him back to Cammi's house. After Jack pleads he's in no fit state, Miles reluctantly agrees to personally reclaim the wallet by sneaking into the garbage-strewn dwelling to retrieve it, passing by the Rubenesque couple, who are now engaged in sex themselves. He retrieves the wallet, but is spotted and is chased down the street by the enraged, portly, naked husband. Miles hops in his car and barely makes a clean getaway.

On the way back to Los Angeles, where the wedding is being held, Jack runs Miles' red Saab 900 convertible into a tree and then into a ditch, in order to have corroborating evidence for his story that a car accident mangled his face. The ploy works, much to Miles' chagrin. Jack's fiancee sympathizes with his injuries.

Miles' ex-wife Victoria is still friendly with Jack, and is at the wedding. During the road trip, Jack had revealed that Victoria remarried, but his romantic feelings for her are still strong. At the ceremony, Victoria introduces Miles to her new husband and also informs Miles that she is pregnant. Miles does his best to contain his deep sadness and congratulates her, but abruptly decides to skip the wedding reception and instead return to his small apartment in San Diego, where he fetches his prized bottle of wine, a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc, and drinks it from a polystyrene foam cup at a fast-food restaurant.

It seems that this is the end for Miles, but Maya eventually returns his apologetic phone call. She has read his unpublished manuscript, and a letter of apology that he sent to her. Touched by his sentimental side, she leaves a message on his machine telling him that she cannot believe the book was turned down, as she admires it, but is also confounded by portions of it; in particular, the ending. Her message also discloses portions of his novel that, in turn, reveal events in Miles' life that may have shaped his bleak perspective on the world, particularly the implication that his father might have committed suicide (although this is unclear as, according to Miles, the novel is only loosely based on events in his own life). The film ends with Miles again driving north, standing on Maya's doorstep, and knocking on her door.

• Paul Giamatti as Miles
• Thomas Haden Church as Jack
• Virginia Madsen as Maya
• Sandra Oh as Stephanie
• Marylouise Burke as Miles's Mother
• Jessica Hecht as Victoria
• Missy Doty as Cammi
• M.C. Gainey as Cammi's Husband
• Alysia Reiner as Christine Erganian
• Shake Tukhmanyan as Mrs. Erganian
• Shaun Duke as Mike Erganian

Time Out London said the film was "intelligent, funny and moving,"^[2] and the Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert, giving the film four stars, said, "what happens during the seven days adds up to the best human comedy of the year -- comedy, because it is funny, and human, because it is surprisingly moving."^[3]

Academy Awards:

• Best Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor)

BAFTA Awards:

• Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy
• Best Screenplay

• Nomination - Best Musical Score

Gotham Awards:

• Best Picture

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures:

• Top Ten Film of 2004
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Adapted Screenplay

IFP Independent Spirit Awards:

• Best Male Lead
• Best Supporting Male
• Best Supporting Female
• Best Screenplay
• Best Director
• Best Feature (won in all categories it was nominated for).

New York Film Critics Circle Awards:

• Best Film

Screen Actors Guild Award:

• Best Ensemble (Paul Giamatti, Sandra Oh, Thomas Haden Church, and Virginia Madsen).

It was nominated for the following awards:

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Original Score, and Best Director, Golden Globe Awards
• Academy Awards for Best Picture, Church as Best Supporting Actor, Madsen as Best Supporting Actress

A surprise hit, Sideways became popular in Hollywood, the US and internationally. Santa Ynez Valley, where much of the film is set, attracted increased tourism. The film was nominated for dozens of awards, winning many, and was dubbed "the best reviewed movie of 2004". With the exception of Giamatti, who had already starred in critically acclaimed films such as American Splendor, the film was a career breakthrough for the relatively unknown stars. Both Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen were nominated for Oscars. Paul Giamatti has since been headlined as "The World's Best Character Actor" by Time Magazine. Giamatti was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance in 2005's Cinderella Man. Sandra Oh, who has since broken up with the film's director, Alexander Payne, has gone on to star in Grey's Anatomy for which she won a Golden Globe and the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) Award. Church went on to play a prominent role in the blockbuster Spider-Man 3.

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Most of the following was revealed in the Sideways DVD special features:

• Director Alexander Payne created the wine list for the film, notably the restaurant scene in Los Olivos.

• George Clooney unsuccessfully campaigned for the part of Jack. Part of Payne's reasoning for casting actors who were not as well known, such as Giamatti and Church, was to prove to movie studios that not all successful movies are star-driven.

• Near the end of the movie, a student is reading aloud from the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The particular portion being read is Gene describing his emotions upon his friend Phinneas' death. This scene was filmed at Cabrillo High School in Vandenberg Village.

• Film dialogue from Henry Fonda's famous "I'll be there" speech from The Grapes of Wrath can be heard in Miles and Jack's hotel room following an abysmal day for the two.

• Throughout the film, Miles speaks fondly of the red wine varietal Pinot Noir. Following the movie's release, Pinot Noir sales in the U.S. increased by more than 20 percent over the 2004-05 Christmas/New Year period, in comparison to the previous year's holiday season. A similar trend occurred in British wine outlets. On the other hand, sales of Merlot dropped after the film's release, presumably due to Miles' disparaging remarks about the varietal in the movie. Ironically, Miles' treasured bottle of wine, a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc, is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, another varietal that Miles claims to dislike in the movie.

• In the scene where Miles steals money from his mother's bedroom, photographs on her dresser show Paul Giamatti alongside his real-life father, the late Bart Giamatti.

• Actress Sandra Oh took motorcycle lessons after she landed the role of Stephanie.

• The dialogue at dinner between Miles, Jack, Maya and Stephanie was improvised.

• Giamatti, Church and Marylouise Burke were stricken with food poisoning from the dinner scene with Miles' mother.

• Much of the wine consumed during the film was non-alcoholic or a grape juice substitute.

• One of the fictional vineyards Miles and Jack visit during their vacation is called "Frass Canyon". Frass is insect excrement, and the name was used as a substitute for that of actor and vintner Fess Parker, who wouldn't allow his name to be used in the film.

• In the scene where Miles angrily hits the ball back at the golfers on the fairway behind them, the person who really hit the ball was Rex Pickett, author of the novel on which the film was based. Pickett claims that Giamatti's exceptionally poor golf form made it impossible for Giamatti to accomplish the shot.

• Giamatti reveals in a DVD commentary that the majority of people with whom he had watched the film were taken to a different, incorrect conclusion by the ending. While rummaging in a box for what was in fact his prized bottle of wine, Giamatti made light of the scene, noting that "most of America expect me to get a Luger out here, and blow my brains out."

• Jack is an actor who has specialized in voice-over work after struggling to find on-screen work. Church, who plays Jack, was (around the time the movie was released) semi-retired from on-screen work and was mostly doing voice overs for many different radio and TV commercials. His on-screen career has been revived thanks to his role in Sideways.

• The house used for scenes outside the home of the parents of Jack's fiance Christine is almost directly across the street from O.J. Simpson's former estate at 360 N. Rockingham Avenue in Brentwood, California.

• Paul Giamatti, whose character in the film is very knowledgeable of fine wines, admits that he does not care for wine in real life.

• Near the beginning of the film, Miles appears to be doing a crossword puzzle in his car while driving on the freeway. However, when the camera shows the crossword puzzle, the speedometer can clearly be seen at 'zero' in the shot.

Main article: Sideways (soundtrack)

• Roger Ebert's Review of Sideways
• The Danish Soul of That Town in 'Sideways'

Preceded by Lost in Translation

Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy 2005

Succeeded by Walk the Line