Two friends embark on a road trip. One is an actor past his prime about to get married. The other is a divorced novelist who never had a prime. Together, they chase women and drink heavily while they fight insecurities and impending mid-life crises. In abstract, nothing about \Sideways"" should be distinctive. Yet in his latest effort, director Alexander Payne lends startling humor and humanity to familiar premises, crafting his best work to date and perhaps the best movie of the year.
Based on Rex Pickett's novel, the movie follows Miles (Paul Giamatti), an eighth grade English teacher and aspiring novelist, who takes his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) to wine country in the week before Jack's wedding. Infidelity and immaturity plague them as Jack looks to sew his oats one last time and Miles wallows in the self-pity of a failed marriage already two years behind him. Neuroses and tensions come to the forefront when the two meet Stephanie (Sandra Oh) and Maya (Virginia Madsen), a pair of locals who fit the sexual and emotional connections they are respectively seeking.
Payne once again displays an extraordinary ability to blend humor and drama without devaluing either. Like Payne's previous feature, ""About Schmidt,"" ""Sideways"" offers some of the most jarringly funny moments of the year, including the funniest nude scene since ""About Schmidt."" But at the same time, he uses his modest visual style and offbeat sense of timing to deftly handle the film's more sensitive moments.
This balance makes Giamatti the perfect fit for the role. His acting style is much like Payne's directorial style; what often makes his quiet moments so strikingly effective is the knowledge that there is a reservoir of nervous energy always lurking just beneath the surface. After his breakthrough performance in 2003's convoluted ""American Splendor,"" Giamatti offers his best work in ""Sideways."" Simultaneously pathetic and impressive, hysterical and sympathetic, Giamatti takes on a complicated and difficult role, and delivers masterfully.
The rest of the cast lives up to Giamatti's standard. In the most surprising performance of the year, Haden Church of TV's ""Wings"" gives a sterling supporting turn. With his air-headed swagger and unblinking misogyny, he makes the perfect foil for Giamatti. Meanwhile, Madsen lights up the screen at every opportunity. Even if she never said a word in the film, it would not matter. The way her eyes radiate warmth and intelligence while she speaks with Giamatti is devastating.
At one point in the movie, Madsen says, ""It's been cold and rainy here lately, but I like the winter."" In many ways, this seems like a creative message from Payne himself. He does his best work when dealing with the bleakest parts of American life. Like those of the Steinbeck work that ""Sideways"" so readily references, Payne's characters aren't pretty, nor are they looking for grand accomplishment or epic romance. What they really seek is a sense of comfort in their own skin.
