Sideways (2004)

9.17.2005
DVD (owned)
Movie: A-
Audio: B
Video: C+

Going back and re-reading my review of Sideways from April, my opinion of the movie remains unchanged. However, I think I may have been a bit harsh on the video transfer. While it's not the best looking DVD ever produced, it deserves a higher rating than a C-. So, this review reflects my changed opinion and the video is now rated C+.

Sideways was nominated for so many awards that it's hard to keep track of them. It won many of them, including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. A well deserved award, indeed. Sideways had such an impact in viewers that Pinot Noir sales rose 20% in the U.S.! On the surface, the story is relatively simple: two middle-aged men go on a trip through the vineyards of California before one of them gets married. A simple, road trip buddy flick. But in reality, things are much more complicated. The two men, Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, were college roommates. Since then, Giamtti's character has matured in some ways, while Church's character is still a big kid. Giamatti wants a week spent touring vineyards and wineries and playing golf. Church, on the other hand, wants to get laid one last time before getting married the following weekend.

What you end up with are two very competing views on life, and two men trying to come to grips with who they are. Both men have severe character flaws (don't we all?) that they struggle with during the trip. These flaws come out in the worst ways over the course of the week, and Sideways culminates with both men finding some sense of closure with respect to individual issues.

The characters are deep and real. Giamatti gives his usual, an amazing performance that really should have garnered him an Oscar nomination, at the very least. Church and the two supporting ladies, Viginia Madsen and Sandra Oh, were likewise impressive. Sideways was perfectly cast. I can't picture any other actors making these roles feel as believable as this cast did. As deep as the characters felt, the script still managed to flesh them out in incredible detail. By the end of the movie, I felt like I knew both men better than I know many of my friends. I think everyone has a bit of both of these characters in them, even though we might do our best to deny and suppress this fact.

Sideways is both delightfully charming and tragically depressing, all at once. The humor here is often implied, drawing on real-life situations and everyday experiences. The entire wine appreciation theme is almost a sub-plot in itself, with the wine playing the main character. After all, according to Madsen, wine is a living being. Watching Sideways was truly a unique experience. My feeling towards the characters were molded and formed by the story and script. In one scene, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the characters, but in the next I despised their motives and actions. There's so much more to Sideways than just what's on the surface.

As an "indie" film, I didn't expect the DVD to be a stand out. The audio was passable, with no noticeable flaws. While I have nothing to complain about, I didn't hear anything to compliment. The video quality was slightly sub par. It's my understanding that the appearance of the color palette and some of the cinematography techniques used were deliberate. Thus, the sunsets and lighting in Sideways were representative of the theatrical presentation. But, I did see several instances of pixelation, probably due to a lower-than-desired bitrate. Detail was somewhat soft, especially during certain scenes. I can't say this was a bad DVD, but it's certainly not reference quality. But then again, Sideways isn't an achievement in audio visual presentation, but in storytelling and acting.

Couldn't have said it better myself...