Director: Alexander Payne

Writers: Alexander Payne; Jim Taylor

From novel by: Rex Pickett

Producer: Michael London

Keywords: Drama

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Thomas Haden Church	Actor	17-Jun-1960		Lowell Mather on Wings
M. C. Gainey	Actor	18-Jan-1948		Sideways
Paul Giamatti	Actor	6-Jun-1967		John Adams
Jessica Hecht	Actor	28-Jun-1965		Betsy Morgan on What About Joan
Virginia Madsen	Actor	11-Sep-1961		Dune to Sideways
Sandra Oh	Actor	20-Jul-1971		Grey's Anatomy

CAST

Paul Giamatti	...   Miles
Thomas Haden Church	...   Jack
Virginia Madsen	...   Maya
Sandra Oh	...   Stephanie
Marylouise Burke	...   Miles's Mother
Jessica Hecht	...   Victoria
Missy Doty	...   Cammi
M. C. Gainey	...   Cammi's Husband
Alysia Reiner	...   Christine Erganian
Shaké Toukhmanian	...   Mrs. Erganian
Duke Moosekian	...   Mike Erganian
Robert Covarrubias	...   Miles's Building Manager
Patrick Gallagher	...   Gary the Bartender
Stephanie Faracy	...   Stephanie's Mother
Joe Marinelli	...   Frass Canyon Pourer
Chris Burroughs	...   Chris at Stanford
Toni Howard	...   Evelyn Berman-Silverman
Rev. Fr. Khoren Babouchian	...   Armenian Priest
Lee Brooks	...   Ken Cortland
Peter Dennis	...   Leslie Brough
Alison Herson	...   Foxen Winery Pourer
Phil Reeves	...   Vacationing Dr. Walt Hendricks
Rob Trow	...   Obnoxious Golfer
Lacey Rae	...   Los Olivos Waitress
Cesar "Cheeser" Ramos	...   Barista
Daniel Rogers	...   Reciting Eighth Grader
Natalie Carter	...   Siena
Simon Kassis	...   Mini-Mart Owner
Sevag Kendirjian	...   Armenian Deacon
Jaren Coler	...   Acoustic Guitarist

REVIEWS

Featured review by [[Mark Tapio Kines]]:

The first film I know of that can be called a "wine lover's movie", Sideways is a simply told but morally complex comedy about two fortyish Southern California men -- Miles, a stifled writer (Paul Giamatti) and Jack, a floundering actor (Thomas Haden Church) -- who spend the week before Jack's gloomy-looking wedding to explore Santa Barbara County's wine region, tasting the wineries' latest offerings, playing golf, and male-bonding. But it quickly becomes apparent that Jack's primary goal for the week is to get Miles -- and, more importantly, himself -- a little girly action. While the self-righteous Miles sneers at flaky Jack for cheating on a fiancée whom he obviously doesn't care much about, he himself is freaking out over his ex-wife's new marriage, the unlikely future for his epic unpublished novel, and his own reluctance to romance a woman who seems perfect for him (Virginia Madsen). What follows is an often funny, squirm-inducingly real look at two losers -- an uptight nerd and an oversexed himbo, an Odd Couple for the aughts -- each finding himself neck-deep in midlife crisis. Good work all around from a quartet of often-overlooked actors (Sandra Oh -- the director's own recent bride -- rounds out the foursome as Jack's free-spirited "conquest"), with detailed, authentic set design and a jazzy score. But this film, like all of Payne's, is about the script, first and foremost. Thank God. Payne and his longtime cowriting partner Jim Taylor have established a routine of loosely adapting little-known novels (see also Election and About Schmidt) to tell painfully truthful tales of pathetic, self-deluded men and the unforgiving women in their lives. It's an ever-bleakening world view, one in which the bad go unpunished in a traditional sense (though their hollow victories are arguably punishment enough), and the good -- or at least the slightly more redeemable -- only find happiness by giving up on their dreams and accepting their place in the world as ordinary people who will never amount to anything. Which is so realistic, in the end, that it may be hard for many to find these films entertaining. But Payne and Taylor aren't pessimists. They constantly challenge the audience to look into their own hearts to find sympathy for characters that, in the movies, may be profoundly unheroic, even downright unlikeable, but in real life are the same people we forgive and tolerate on a daily basis: our friends, our families, and ourselves.

Review by anonymous (posted on 8-Jun-2006)

When I saw the trailers for this movie, I was expecting a comedy that was a little "raunchier", so when I saw it in the theatre, I was sort of disappointed. However, after watching it again, knowing what kind of comedy it is, I found it rather enjoyable.

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