Movie review: Sideways

Sideways (2004)

Sideways is a comedy-drama about a road trip through California’s wine country. Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church play Miles and Jack, college friends both having midlife crises of sorts. Miles is a divorced, miserable failed author/middle school teacher, while Jack is a washed-up former actor who is about to be married. Miles wants to relax and recharge on the trip and actually enjoy wine country, but Jack is more focused on having one last fling before getting married.

The movie is packed with information about wine. Miles is a bit of a wine snob who knows all about the wines, regions, grapes, etc. Throughout the movie, he gives Jack and the other characters wine facts and tasting notes. Listening to his character talk about wine is very enlightening. It was set in Santa Barbara County, California, and was filmed mostly on location. The region is depicted quite well in the movie. Throughout the movie, the viewer gets to see several vineyards and wineries, some tastings, wine and dinner pairings, and hear some wine lingo.

The movie was truly entertaining and educational. The plot is engaging and hilarious, and the many wine facts that Miles gives are woven into the story so well that the viewer gets quite a wine lesson without even really realizing it.

After watching the movie, I did some research and found out that Miles’s opinions of wine actually had an effect on wine sales in the U.S. and U.K. In the film, he praises pinot noir, but hates Merlot (At one dinner, he says, “No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!“). Pinot noir sales were up 16 percent in the year following the film’s release, while Merlot sales were down 2 percent, according to a study by Sonoma State University. This was interesting to me because it shows that wine-drinkers in the U.S. and the U.K. take others’ opinions on wine so seriously that they were willing to accept the opinion of a fictional character.

I’d recommend the movie to anyone – even if you aren’t interested in wine, the plot is great. If you are interested in wine, watching the movie is a good way to learn more while also being entertained. Since Jack is a novice and much of the wine information is being explained to him by Miles, none of it is too advanced for the viewer to understand. Even a viewer with no outside knowledge of wine could learn from it.