Sideways

Sideways

If people could look past the amount of nudity, sex, language, and serious elements of this film, they would find a truly remarkable comedy. It does something that most comedies no longer do: it presents us with complicated characters and makes us care about them. Besides that, every single actor in this film beautifully plays out the terrific screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, which is the best of the year. In a generation of truly terrible taste in comedy, this film is a breath of fresh air that should be savored like a fine wine.

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A Week-Long Bachelor Party Gone Wrong

The film has become one of my favorites of all time. This is a great journey I would love to take before getting hitched, but not while cheating on my bride to be. A trip through the California wine country goes all wrong when two very opposite friends wind up meeting the women of their dreams. One of those friends (the one who's getting married) is on a mission to get laid, and the depressed friend is sulking in the past. It makes for some crazy antics and a great film for a lot of people to enjoy, but I feel it falls short of what the novel offered. Many of the hilarious antics from the novel did not make it into the film (I can only assume for time concerns) and the characters were over-dramaticized, especially Miles. He can be depressing in the film, but is a pretty fun guy in the book. I love the film, though, but I highly suggest anyone who gives the film three or more stars should look into the novel as well, you won't be disappointed.

Disappointed

I was so disappointed when I finally got the chance to watch this film. It was so long and it was a bit boring. I love Sandra Oh, but this was just not the right movie. If you want to watch a movie about nothing, then this is for you.

An abstract portrait of real people

This is one of the better films about the eccentricity of life, the bitterness of love, and the neurotic complexity of modern society. The four leads each bring their own unique perspectives to their characters. Virginia Madsen is radiant of her portrayal as an extremely fascinating woman, and she gives her all like no one business, and also, this could be the best movie of her career. Sandra Oh is always the stunning scene stealer. Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are especially excellent as the miserable would-be writer, and the struggling actor trying to have his last fling of freewill before his wedding. The direction of Alexander Payne is terribly original, and he always brings such great in-depthness to his films. This is one of the better movies that I have ever seen in my life.

A TOAST

A great wine sipping movie.It's a very nice rites-of-passage type story that I think most men who've had their day in the sun-single years can identify with.The dialogue flavors the sometimes hapless,almost pathetic,but always festive and eager caricatures of modern men in their seminal journey in search of the fruits of the vine.What they meet along the way is a mixture of Chardonay and Rose due largely to Payne's direction and writing.The outstanding acting is a cask of talent:Giamatti's Miles is a white wine of bitter discontent, while Church's Jack is a robust Rose of passion and discovery.The link between this often hard-to-swallow male-bonding pair is of course the wine.The essence of their transcendant journey is their loneliness and drive to replenish their insatiable thirst for the intoxicating virtues of a woman's understanding and love.The fine acting talents of Madsen and Oh add a nice cork to this bottle.Maybe a somewhat misunderstood film for those who have never drank from the single man's vat.

Aweful

I was shocked that this movie won awards. It's slow, drab, uneventful, and not humorus at all. I can't believe they categorized this as a comedy. My husband fell asleep!

An amazing comedy/drama!!!

I'm watching Sideways right now, and it is amazing. The story line is very good, the directing by Alexander Payne was very flawless, and the acting was really good. The movie had really funny parts in it, I was cracking up really good. This is definatley not a faily movie, but it is really good. After watching this I think this movie, should have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards instead of Million Dollar Baby. This is now one of my favorite movies of all time.

What were they thinking...

What? Golden Globe winner, Academy Award nominated. I could NOT believe how much I didn't like this movie. Touted as "best comedy" and yet there was only one smirk and certainly NO LAUGHS. It's final... I have totally lost faith in critics. This movie is a real SNOOZE FEST. Save yourself and get something really funny like... Se7en.

A True Rarity

Movies like this are becoming harder and harder to find, mainly because most of the movie going public finds true-to-life drama/comedy boring (see select previous reviews) They are the reason movies like this are so hard to find, and movies like The Matrix, The Pacifier etc...etc.. are a dime a dozen and make millions of dollars because stupid people just don't like to think or be entertained by anything other than bright lights, explosions, and computer-generated nothings. Needless to say, this is a wonderful movie. It's funny, sad at times, and real. Good movies like this are hard to find anymore. If you haven't seen it, and you like a good movie with real people and an awesome script, don't miss this one.

Hollywood Obviously Nurtures Its Young . . . . . .

Because this was one of the most overrated, boring movies I have EVER seen. All the actors were fine, but the story was so low-key, it just dragged! Not a movie I would recommend.

Great Film-Reminds Me of Michael Lubarsky's novel LITTLE KINGDOMS

I loved this film and can't wait for my own copy to arrive. If you like this film you should read the novel LITTLE KINGDOMS by Michael Lubarsky. Similar themes, set in the restaurant world of San Francisco with great writing.

no real point

I don’t know what I missed about this movie but it must have something that everyone that rants and raves about how great this movie is saw because to me it is easily one of the most boring movies I have ever see it is not bad like a low budget film, cheesy Sci-Fi or horror flick it is just boring the acting is not poor there is no real point to the movie other than there two guys at opposite ends of the relationship spectrum one about to get married and one divorced for several years and depressed about it having their midlife crisis. The movie has a few funny parts in it but if you have seen the add on TV you have seen all the funny parts no exaggeration all of them. Let me put it to you this way it goes by on a day to day basis and in-between days the screen turns black and the day to follow is shown in big white letters before it fades into the next sequence and on Monday I was thinking this movie has to take off soon and then Tuesday came and I was thinking my god I have to sit through 5 more days of this swill. The man that was in the seat behind me said it best this movie is a boring dumb and dumber for pretentious people. I left the movie wanting my money back and a friend took me to see it with free passes. This is 2 hours of my life that I want to hold the writer of this script responsible for when I am on my deathbed.

The Most Overrated Film of the Year

I was never so disappointed coming out of a movie theatre until I saw Sideways. I found the storyline dull and the characters unlikeable. Perhaps this a film for men and maybe this is why I did appreciate the film, but I thought the men were completely despicable. Stealing from your mother and having illicit affairs before walking down the aisle does not define good cinema. It's a shame that a film like Hotel Rwanda wasn't nominated over mediocre Sideways.

Wonderful Story

The Screenplay is very well adapted by Alexander Payne. It does the book very much justice. This movie has become one of my favorites.I also think it will become an instant classic, once it gets some more rocognition.

Best Movie of 2004

Undeniably the best film of the year. Here the script, the acting, the direction and the cinematography should be what defines greatness in the movies. All critics agree, there was no other film in 2004 that delivered like this one. Never meant to be compared to big Hollywood blockbusters, this "indie" movie got so much attention (well-deserved) that the average movie-goer, who wouldn't have normally seen Sideways, expected something far more grandiose and left disappointed. Nevertheless Sideways is a gem and will remain a classic.

Wonderful buddy story...

What a wonderful movie. Telling the age-old story that it REALLY is hard to love someone who doesn't love themself, is made anew in this intelligent and witty movie.

Yawn

After reading all the other reviews I don’t really have anything new to add I’ll just say that the movie had some appeal with it’s sarcastic wit but over all I agree with the rest of the people that didn’t like this movie it is very slow and tiresome

not for the dim witted

..which is why it wasn't quite the cinematic success so many horrible movies are... this is funny and clever. You will recognize the characters from real life, and find it impossible not to forgive their flaws and welcome them into your living room.

Sideways

Comedy like this no longer exists outside of independent markets, which is a shame considering the fact that we could have more of these movies rolling out of Hollywood. That very fact that this kind of comedy is a rarity is the main reason why this should have been a stronger contender for Best Picture of 2004 at the Academy Awards. The sense of humor may seem dull, but in fact it's the kind of humor that makes genuine comedy. A good comedy film should not be all goof-off stuff, rather it must maintain a certain amount of drama and character developement. The standard issue Hollywood comedies do none of this as they seek good box office and even better DVD sales. Why do studios put out movies like "The Pacifier"? Not artistic reasons certainly, but for good attendance and home video sales. We should savor this film as long as it lasts because we probably wont see anything like it for a long time.

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