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Directed by: Alexander Payne Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden-Church "Sideways" is a small film by the director of "About Schmidt", which was another fine film. This film takes place in California, and tells the story of Miles (Paul Giamatti - American Splendor), an English teacher, wine snob, and failed writer, who takes his actor friend Jack (Thomas Hayden Church - Wings) on a week-long bachelor party trip through wine country. Obviously there are plenty of misadventures and strange happenings on the way, but I don't want to give any away. I will simply say that I laughed harder at some parts of this movie than I have in a really long time. I think Alexander Payne's real gift lies in two areas. First, he chooses fantastic scripts to direct. About Schmidt was a wonderful, beautiful film, and this one is even better. Second, his talent for naturalistic directing. When watching one of his movies, it feels like you're watching a slice of someone's life. He directs his actors to act natural better than anyone else, and that is an incredibly hard thing to do. When you can remove all traces of "acting" from the screen, I think that's a talent that deserves to be praised and recognized. This film is in limited release, so only those of you in big cities can see it for now. But if it's not in your city now, don't despair. It will be out on video soon. If you live in Los Angeles, it's currently playing at The Grove on 3rd and Fairfax. RATING: 5.0 PROS: Fantastic film, so naturalistic and believable, really funny CONS: Could have used a little more love story ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375063/
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Nov 9, 2004 21:26
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 15:51 |
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