Sideways (film)

Sideways is a 2004 American black comedy drama film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's novel of the same name, Sideways follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti), a depressed teacher and unsuccessful writer, and Jack Cole (Thomas Haden Church), a past-his-prime actor, who take a week-long road trip to Santa Barbara County wine country to celebrate Jack's upcoming wedding. Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen also star. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2004, and was released in the United States on October 22, 2004.
Sideways won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Haden Church) and Best Supporting Actress (Madsen).
== Plot ==
Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) is an unsuccessful writer, a wine aficionado, and a divorced, depressed, alcoholic middle-aged English teacher living in San Diego. He takes Jack Cole (Thomas Haden Church), his soon-to-be-married actor friend and former college roommate, on a road trip through the Santa Ynez Valley wine country. Though Cole is still recognized on occasion, his acting career appears to have peaked years earlier, when he had a role in a popular TV soap. He now does commercial voice-oversand plans to enter his future father-in-law's successful real estate business. Miles wants to spend the week relaxing, playing golf and enjoying good food and wine. However, much to Miles' consternation, Jack is on the prowl and wants one last sexual fling before settling into domestic life.
In the wine country, the pair visit Miles' favorite restaurant, The Hitching Post II, and encounter Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress with whom Miles is casually acquainted. Jack senses that Maya is interested in Miles, who believes she is married. Jack lies to Maya that Miles' manuscript has been accepted for publication, even though it is only being considered. At a tasting in a local winery, Jack and Miles meet a wine pourer named Stephanie (Sandra Oh), who is also acquainted with Maya. Jack is immediately attracted to Stephanie and arranges a double date, having discovered Maya is no longer married.
During the date, Miles gets drunk and telephones Vicki (Jessica Hecht), his ex-wife, after learning from Jack that she has remarried. The two couples go to Stephanie's home, where she and Jack adjourn to her bedroom for sex. Miles and Maya connect through their mutual interest in wine. Maya says she is finishing a master's degree in horticulture so she can get out of being a waitress. They leave separately, but not before Miles gives her a copy of his manuscript.
Jack's affair with Stephanie continues, to the point where he believes he's falling in love; he bonds with her daughter and suggests to Miles that they move there for him to be closer to Stephanie. He wants to call off his wedding. After spending a day together, Miles and Maya return to her apartment and have sex. The next morning, Miles lets it slip that Jack is to be married. Disgusted with the men's dishonesty, Maya dumps Miles and tells Stephanie, who, furious and devastated that she's been used, breaks Jack's nose.
On finding out his manuscript has been rejected, Miles drinks heavily at a vineyard. When a server cuts him off, he ends up drinking from the spit bucket in the tasting room, creating a scene. That night, Jack hooks up with another waitress named Cammi (Missy Doty), who recognizes him from his acting career. Hours later, Jack shows up at the motel  – naked and confessing that Cammi's husband (M.C. Gainey) came home while she and Jack were having sex. Jack was forced to flee without his clothes and wallet (which contains a pair of irreplaceable wedding rings). He convinces Miles to sneak into the house, where he discovers Cammi and her husband having sex. Miles grabs the wallet and runs, barely escaping Cammi's irate husband, who pursues him in the nude.
To explain his broken nose to his fiancée, Jack runs Miles' Saab 900 convertibleinto a tree, giving the appearance they had been in an accident. The pair return to the fiancée's home, where Jack is welcomed with open arms. Miles meanwhile drives away in his battered car.
Following the wedding ceremony, Miles runs into his ex-wife Vicki and meets her new husband. Learning that she is pregnant, Miles hits rock bottom. Alone, he drinks his prized wine, a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc, from a disposable styrofoam soda cup at a fast-food restaurant. Time passes as Miles returns to the routine of teaching school. One day he receives a voicemail from Maya, who says she enjoyed his manuscript and invites him to visit. Miles is seen driving back to wine country and knocking on Maya's door.
== Cast ==
* Paul Giamatti as Miles Raymond - A timid and cautious teacher who is trying to get a book published and is now recently divorced. He is to be the best man at his best friend Jack's wedding and is giving him a road trip as a best man present.
* Thomas Haden Church as Jack Cole - Miles impulsive and thrill-seeking best friend. He is getting married in a week but is hoping to sleep with one new woman before he commits himself eternally to his fiance. Jack doesn't think about the consequences of his actions but he does seem to care about Miles and want to help him out with his problems.
* Virginia Madsen as Maya Randall
* Sandra Oh as Stephanie
* Marylouise Burke as Phyllis Raymond
* Jessica Hecht as Victoria
* Stephanie Faracy as Stephanie's mother
* 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
* Phil Reeves as Vacationing Dr. Walt Hendricks
== Impact on wine industry ==
The film drew attention and increased tourism to the Santa Ynez Valley wine-growing region of California's Central Coast. Throughout the film, Miles speaks fondly of the red wine varietal Pinot Noir while denigrating Merlot.[2][3] Following the film's U.S. release in October 2004, Merlot sales dropped 2% while Pinot Noir sales increased 16% in the Western United States. A similar trend occurred in British wine outlets.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
A 2009 study by Sonoma State University found that Sideways slowed the growth in Merlot sales volume and caused its price to fall, but the film's main effect on the wine industry was a rise in the sales volume and price of Pinot Noir and in overall wine consumption.[9]
A 2014 study by Vineyard Financial Associates estimated that Sideways cost Merlot farmers over $400M in lost revenue in the decade after its release, however this study is, by its own admission, speculative.[10]
== Soundtrack ==
The original soundtrack album features 15 jazz instrumentals composed and produced by Rolfe Kent and was orchestrated and arranged for the band by Tony Blondal. The album was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for "Best Original Score", and the music proved so popular there was demand for a national tour. Eventually a few cities were chosen to perform in as the composer was too busy to commit to more. The romantic leitmotif shared by Miles and Maya is excerpted from Symbiosis by Claus Ogerman and Bill Evans.
# "Asphalt Groovin'" – 4:00
# "Constantine Snaps His Fingers" – 3:03
# "Drive!" – 3:56
# "Picnic" – 2:15
# "Lonely Day" – 1:40
# "Wine Safari" – 2:13
# "Miles' Theme" – 2:59
# "Los Olivos" – 2:43
# "Chasing the Golfers" – 3:03
# "Walk to Hitching Post" – 2:32
# "Abandoning the Wedding" – 3:25
# "Slipping Away As Mum Sleeps" – 1:00
# "Bowling Tango" – 0:49
# "I'm Not Drinking Any #@%!$ Merlot!" – 1:13
# "Miles And Maya" – 2:26
== Reception ==
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 223 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Charming, thoughtful, and often funny, Sideways is a decidedly mature road trip comedy full of excellent performances."[11] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 94 out of 100, based on 42 critics, signifying "universal acclaim".[12]
Time Out described the film as "intelligent, funny and moving",[13] and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars, saying: "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."[14] A surprise hit, Sideways became popular in Hollywood, the US, and internationally. Santa Ynez Valley, where much of the film is set, experienced 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 stars. Church and Madsen were each nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, and Academy Award for their performances, winning the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and Independent Spirit Award for their respective categories. Giamatti has since been headlined as "The World's Best Character Actor" by Time magazine.[15] Sandra Oh—who later broke up with the film's director, Alexander Payne—went on to star in the ABCmedical drama Grey's Anatomy, for which she won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Golden Globe Award.
Sideways was ranked 494th on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[16] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America also ranked its script as the 90th greatest ever written.[17]
== Awards and nominations ==
Awards 	Awards 	Awards 	Awards
Award 	Category 	Name 	Outcome
American Film Institute Awards 	AFI Movie of the Year 	 	Won
77th Academy Awards 	Best Picture 	Michael London 	Nominated
77th Academy Awards 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
77th Academy Awards 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Nominated
77th Academy Awards 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Nominated
77th Academy Awards 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
American Cinema Editors 	Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical 	Kevin Tent 	Nominated
Argentine Film Critics Association 	Best Foreign Film, Not in Spanish Language 	Alexander Payne 	Won
Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics 	Grand Prix 	 	Nominated
58th British Academy Film Awards 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Bodil Awards 	Best American Film 	Alexander Payne 	Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 	Best Film 	 	Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	2nd Place
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	2nd Place
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 	Best Cast 	Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh	Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Film 	 	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Cast 	Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Composer 	Rolfe Kent 	Nominated
Casting Society of America 	Best Feature Film Casting – Comedy 	John Jackson and Ellen Parks 	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association 	Best Film 	 	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Czech Lion 	Best Foreign Language Film 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association 	Best Film 	 	2nd Place
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association 	Top 10 Films 	 	Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Directors Guild of America Awards 	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 	Best Film 	 	Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 	 	Won
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Director – Motion Picture 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 	Paul Giamatti 	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture 	Thomas Haden Church 	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 	Virginia Madsen 	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Screenplay – Motion Picture 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Golden Globe Awards 	Best Original Score – Motion Picture 	Rolfe Kent 	Nominated
Gotham Awards 	Best Film 	Alexander Payne 	Won
Independent Spirit Awards 	Best Film 	Michael London 	Won
Independent Spirit Awards 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Won
Independent Spirit Awards 	Best Male Lead 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
Independent Spirit Awards 	Best Supporting Male 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Independent Spirit Awards 	Best Supporting Female 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Independent Spirit Awards 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards 	Film of the Year 	 	Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards 	Director of the Year 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards 	Actor of the Year 	Paul Giamatti 	Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards 	Screenwriter of the Year 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Nominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 	Best Film 	 	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	2nd Place
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
National Board of Review 	Top Ten Films 	 	Won
National Board of Review 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
National Board of Review 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards 	Best Film 	 	2nd Place
National Society of Film Critics Awards 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	2nd Place
National Society of Film Critics Awards 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	2nd Place
National Society of Film Critics Awards 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
New York Film Critics Circle 	Best Film 	 	Won
New York Film Critics Circle 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
New York Film Critics Circle 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
New York Film Critics Circle 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Online Film Critics Society 	Best Picture 	 	Nominated
Online Film Critics Society 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Online Film Critics Society 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
Online Film Critics Society 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Online Film Critics Society 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Nominated
Online Film Critics Society 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Producers Guild of America Awards 	Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture 	Michael London 	Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle 	Best Film 	 	Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Satellite Awards 	Best Film – Musical or Comedy 	 	Won
Satellite Awards 	Best Director – Motion Picture 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Satellite Awards 	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 	Paul Giamatti 	Nominated
Satellite Awards 	Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 	Thomas Haden Church 	Won
Satellite Awards 	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 	Virginia Madsen 	Nominated
Satellite Awards 	Best Cast – Motion Picture 	Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh	Won
Satellite Awards 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards 	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 	Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh	Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards 	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role 	Paul Giamatti 	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards 	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role 	Thomas Haden Church 	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards 	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role	Virginia Madsen 	Nominated
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Film 	 	Won
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Won
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
USC Scripter Award 	Best Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle 	Best Film 	 	Won
Vancouver Film Critics Circle 	Best Director 	Alexander Payne 	Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle 	Best Actor 	Paul Giamatti 	Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle 	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle 	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Won
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor 	Thomas Haden Church 	Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress 	Virginia Madsen 	Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
Writers Guild of America 	Best Adapted Screenplay 	Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor 	Won
== Remake ==
Fox International Productions and Fuji TV released a Japanese-language remake of the film in October 2009,[18] often referred to in English as Saidoweizu(the anglicization of its Japanese title). The film is directed by Cellin Gluck and stars Katsuhisa Namase, Fumiyo Kohinata, Kyōka Suzuki, and Rinko Kikuchi, and has a soundtrack composed and performed by Hawaiian-born ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.
The remake shifts the setting of the film to Napa Valley. Although listed as an executive producer, Payne was not involved with the remake, although he gave it his blessing.[19] Giamatti declined an invitation to appear in an unspecified cameo appearance in the film.[20]
==References==