Starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh

(10-Masterpiece)

Funny. Painful. Wonderful.

Two friends-Miles (Giamatti) and Jack (Haden Church)- go on a road trip through wine country the week before the latter is to be married. Jack is determined to have a fling before he ties the knot and meek, self-loathing Miles goes along with it, the two meeting Stephanie (Oh) and Maya (Madsen). A hallmark of Alexander Payne’s films is the attention to character detail. In the case of this film, that can often be painful to watch, but ultimately Sideways transcends even its own mire to become something wonderful. The four principals are fantastic and Miles, for all of his faults, is a deeply sympathetic character.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(558)