Overall Impression – Hilarious, smart and moving. SEE IT!
THE FOUR QUESTIONS
Who’s your main character? – Miles.
What’s he trying to accomplish? – Professional: enjoy a fun weekend in wine country with his best (and soon to be hitched) friend Jack. Personal: get over his divorce. Private: find true love again.
Who’s trying to stop him? – Miles is definitely his own worst enemy, but Jack contributes his share of obstacles, too.
What happens if he fails? – Miles will remain miserable and alone.
THE FOUR ARCHETYPES
Orphan – Miles’ divorce (2 years prior) has left him insecure and cynical about finding another woman. His best friend Jack is also about to be married, so in a sense Miles is being left behind.
Wanderer – The guys travel to wine country, where Miles attempts to teach Jack the intricacies of wine tasting. Jack also learns about Miles’ interest in a local waitress named Maya… and the extent of Miles’ insecurity around women. So, Jack takes it upon himself to get his best buddy laid. The perfect plan, given that he also wants to sleep with Maya’s friend Stephanie before he gets married.
Warrior – As Jack befriends Stephanie, Miles works on opening up to Maya and putting his divorce behind him. Jack and Miles also talk more candidly, each confronting the other about their respective problems. Miles also pursues a book deal more aggressively.
Martyr – There are a few martyr elements. The funniest is when Miles sneaks into the house of a random waitress that Jack slept with, in order to retrieve Jack’s wallet which holds his wedding rings. However, Miles’ bravest moment comes at the end, when he finally puts himself out there and goes back for Maya.
AND, IN THE END…
There aren’t many movies I can watch over and over, but SIDEWAYS is one of them. It’s gotta be up there with LOST IN TRANSLATION, another great dual-character study that’s just so… likable.
The thing is, whenever somebody told me about the movie before I’d seen it, it just sounded boring. I got various versions of “Well… it’s about these two guys who go to wine country, they meet a waitress… and yeah, it’s hilarious.”
Well, it was hilarious, and much more. The great thing is, you don’t even have to like wine to enjoy SIDEWAYS.
Oh, if I haven’t said it already… SEE IT! SEE IT! SEE IT!
– Dan Pilditch
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