11.15.19 | Sideways

Sideways: Alexander Payne – the brilliant director of “About Schmidt” and “The Descendants” – made this insightful film about two men “growing up” on a journey through the vineyards of Santa Barbara.  “Sideways” will whet your appetite for good wine, cheese and assorted finger food, to be served before and at intermission on this first nite of our recurring Foodie Film and Feed Nights at the Highland.  Winner of the Academy Award for its Screenplay, Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. 

Synopsis: Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti), a failed writer and divorcé who teaches junior high school English takes his best friend, former hot actor Jack (Thomas Haden Church), on a weeklong drive up to California's wine country. There they explore the nature of their failures and question their relationships. Jack, about to get married, has an affair with a woman (Sandra Oh) and wonders whether he should call off his wedding. Miles questions whether or not he made the right choice while trying to form a relationship with the woman's best friend (Virginia Madsen), a fellow oenophile who is a waitress at a restaurant that he frequents often when visiting that part of the country.