Michael Jordan's Weblog

This is one of the worst movies to get nominated in a while... My wife and I saw "Sideways" over our New Years Eve vacation in Santa Barbara. She liked it. I did not. Now, the more I hear about it, the more I hate it!

Sure, there were some parts that were amusing (the scene at the golf course, the references to Merlot...) but the rest of the movie tries to put one over on you in a way where I found myself looking around the theater to see if anyone was really buying it!

For example -- and this is my biggest problem with the movie -- the whole premise of the movie is bizarre. (And how can you call "good" a movie based on a premise like this?) The idea is that two men, both in their 40s and at least one wealthy, go wine tasting for a week for a bachelor party (!). This just doesn't happen! The one getting married (played by The Guy from Wings) doesn't even know anything about wine -- he's just going along with his buddy for what I can only assume is some kind of favor. Doesn't make sense!

To try and turn this charade into a story, the groom's angst about getting married plays out in his desire to have an affair with a local woman to whom he keeps referring as "hot", along with another woman he wants his wingman to hit on because she's "hot" too. In what universe are these two women even remotely "hot"?

Besides the "storyline" the acting was just ok. You feel sorry for Giamatti's character but after he keeps piling it on, he just gets annoying (he plays the same character he played in "Duets" which was actually pretty good). And the other guy -- can't remember his name but he doesn't really need one other than "The Guy from Wings" -- speaks with some version of a surfer/stoner accent. I'd be afraid it was the guy's real voice except that it comes and goes a bit and I don't remember him talking like that in Wings. (Only Keanu Reeves in "Devil's Advocate" has a harder time speaking consistently; but don't get me started on Keanu Reeves.)

It will probably win an Oscar.