Review from the Past: Sideways

Sideways made me want to drink wine. And I have never had a drop of alcohol in my entire life (I'm 26). I was still in college (Southeastern University) when this movie released, and I remember going to see it on my own in Tampa. I remember my car was having so many problems and I didn't know if it could handle the 45-minute drive to the theater. I decided to see two movies (the other Hotel Rwanda) to at least make the risk worth it - in retrospect, both of the films I saw that day were incredible. I hadn't seen much of any of the stars - Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh. Giamatti was great in American Splendor, Church was on Wings which I had seen a couple of times on Nick-at-Nite, I had no idea who Madsen was, and Oh was the most familiar as I watched Grey's Anatomy off and on. Other than that, I didn't know what I was getting into. I just knew that the critics were going crazy about the low-budget film.

It's basically part The Hangover (if you replace Vegas with wine country) and part The Graduate (life changes, big decisions, that sort of thing). A friend wants to take another friend out on one last adventure before he gets married. The guy getting married (Church) decides to turn the trip into one big bachelor party, whereas his friend (Giamatti) just wants to take one last stab at refining his somewhat immature buddy. Some will call this a drama, others a comedy, I would say it's a perfect mix of both. There are genuine laughs, but also really touching moments that will stick with you. When the movie ended, I remember feeling a little empty inside, like "what was all the fuss about?" As the days and weeks went on though, I couldn't get the movie out of my head. Only appropriate I guess for a movie about wine to just better with age. By the time the movie released on DVD, I was ready to watch it again. I've seen it half a dozen times or so now, and each time I pick up something new. It's growing into one of my favorite movies of all time, and I would give it a 9 out of 10.