"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

Are You A Knuckle-Dragger? Then Don't See This Film, Please Middle-aged Miles' (Paul Giamatti) life isn't going forward. And it isn't going backwards either. His life is going "Sideways". Miles is headed to No-wheresville. He's a failed writer, has a messed up friendship with a nearly washed-up actor named Jack (Thomas Haden Church...remember the low-IQ mechanic from the WINGS TV series? Yep, he's back), and is spinning into a pit of self-loathing since his divorce two years prior. If that weren't enough, Jack, his best buddy, is now getting married and Miles has to be his Best Man. Oh! And did we mention that Miles' ex-wife and her new husband are coming to the wedding, too. Lovely! For Miles, already on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications, something is about to break. Better do something unpredictable. But what? Ah yes! ROAD TRIP! So Miles and Jack take a jaunt into California's wine country. Miles, who is a connoisseur of great wines, tries to teach Jake (who's only interests are in getting nasty with a girl -- any girl -- who's interested in him) how to enjoy Pinots, Blancs, and all the other available grape incarnations. But what the two have brought along with them on this trip is their pasts, their present, and, ultimately, their futures. Will this trip spell the end of Jack's engagement if he falls in love with someone else (or thinks he falls)? Can Miles wrestle his own personal demons out from under him while meanwhile trying to keep his best friend from self-destructing? Okay, so some of you might be asking yourselves, "So what's with the title of your film review?" Let me explain. First off, this movie has zero CGI effects (Did you hear that! Zero!). Second, there are no heroic battle scenes (not really, unless you consider Susan Oh beating on someone with her motorcycle helmet a "battle scene") or impressive set shots. Third, this film moves you into the characters' lives gently, kind of like getting into a pool filled with ice water. You have to go slowly, let your body adjust to the temperature change. For film, this is known as plot and character development (something that Hollyweird sometimes has trouble with). Fourth, you won't find Cindy Crawford look-alikes, or Vin Diesel muscle-types strutting their stuff in this film. This movie has "true" characters." They're F#@$ed up people who look like you or me. And they have real-world problems (they aren't trying to save the world from Zork-the-Terrible before he implodes Earth with his Confabulator 9000). So if you're the type who goes into a theater expecting to be "blown away" by the special effects, bypass this one and spare us your review here. But if you enjoy character studies, and don't mind a slow, funny, touching, and downright realistic film, you'll probably love this one. (Congratulations to the screenwriters for their Oscar win!)