In the sea of commercial junk out there, this movie stands out as truly worthwhile.
John Stiles' review here makes me wonder if I have anything worthwhile to say about the movie. I recognized the qualities he found that mark these two men as morally deficient. He said the director does not judge these men or their actions. And that's the point. The director did not have to rub our nose in their bad morality. We can judge those for ourselves.
I found that this fine movie, like all the best movies, is about friendship. (And the best TV dramas are about executives such as Frank Furillo, Tony Soprano, and their decisionmaking process.) These are two friends who balance each other, but who, between them, do not become one total person. Yet both are saved by caring for, and being cared for by, another person, both each other and the women in their lives.
Thomas Haden Church, an actor I never noticed, is quite fine, in fact, perfect as the "positive thinking" guy hellbent on getting laid. He is raunchy, yet a thoughtful and sensitive friend. Jack, his character, and this is for you to ferret out, may be best at lying to himself. There is as the Stiles review noted one uncomfortable and startlingly inconsistent moment. Paul Giamatti and his brother Marcus (Peter on JUDGING AMY) are both solid actors.
Of the women, Virginia Madsen is a dream. But I consider Sandra Oh as Stephanie and Toni Collette (not in this movie) to be the two absolute best of the younger actresses. Ms. Oh has the unbelievable skill (or agent) to get her parts that would normally go to Caucasian women and she is thus not limited to playing the occasional and rare role that demands an Asian woman. I will see anything because she is in it. She does not disappoint on any level.
I would like this movie, SIDEWAYS, to spawn a sequel I call CROSSWAYS--the same set of events as seen by the two women (or three if you count the ex-wife) characters. I wonder if, in that case, the actors themselves might not write the story.
John Stiles' review here makes me wonder if I have anything worthwhile to say about the movie. I recognized the qualities he found that mark these two men as morally deficient. He said the director does not judge these men or their actions. And that's the point. The director did not have to rub our nose in their bad morality. We can judge those for ourselves.
I found that this fine movie, like all the best movies, is about friendship. (And the best TV dramas are about executives such as Frank Furillo, Tony Soprano, and their decisionmaking process.) These are two friends who balance each other, but who, between them, do not become one total person. Yet both are saved by caring for, and being cared for by, another person, both each other and the women in their lives.
Thomas Haden Church, an actor I never noticed, is quite fine, in fact, perfect as the "positive thinking" guy hellbent on getting laid. He is raunchy, yet a thoughtful and sensitive friend. Jack, his character, and this is for you to ferret out, may be best at lying to himself. There is as the Stiles review noted one uncomfortable and startlingly inconsistent moment. Paul Giamatti and his brother Marcus (Peter on JUDGING AMY) are both solid actors.
Of the women, Virginia Madsen is a dream. But I consider Sandra Oh as Stephanie and Toni Collette (not in this movie) to be the two absolute best of the younger actresses. Ms. Oh has the unbelievable skill (or agent) to get her parts that would normally go to Caucasian women and she is thus not limited to playing the occasional and rare role that demands an Asian woman. I will see anything because she is in it. She does not disappoint on any level.
I would like this movie, SIDEWAYS, to spawn a sequel I call CROSSWAYS--the same set of events as seen by the two women (or three if you count the ex-wife) characters. I wonder if, in that case, the actors themselves might not write the story.