Sideways: A multi-dimensional film. The best this year?

Is this the best film of the year? Probably not. Is this the best one I've seen so far? Most certainly; and I look forward to "The Aviator", "Hotel Rwanda" and "Million Dollar Baby" to displace it in the next couple of weeks.

But here's what "Sideways" is, if not the best film of the year. It's another bold stroke for director Alexander Payne, whose earlier films, "Election" and "About Schmidt" were darkly humorous, and about people who look at themselves as losers, as failures. "Sideways" is no exception, and Payne has enough chops as a director to attract the startlingly emotive Paul Giamatti to take the central role that Nicholson played in "About Schmidt". Giamatti, as Miles, is the guy who is hurting, and everybody knows it. The guy who may have come close to losing his will to live. The guy who develops an obsession (Giamatti's is fine wine) over something that is destined to emphasize all the downside risks of his life. Miles' real career, teaching, seems to be a backdrop to his weightlessness as a denizen of the state of California. Miles' failed attempt at a novel, "The Day After Yesterday", and his refusal to part with the role he played as a husband, are both testaments to what he wants to be, and isn't. Giamatti makes you believe in Miles, makes you wonder, makes you care. For a physically unattractive actor (not really unlike Nicholson....) his charisma and his emotive power shine through to the screen.

What is he doing with college buddy Jack (Thomas Haden Church)? Haden Church has raw bluster in his roles - he's nearly always loud and difficult; here as a washed-up actor who is reduced to doing commercials. He actually feels sorry for Miles; between his "career" in Hollywood and his impending nuptials to a beautiful and caring woman; with his looks and candor, it's surprising he decided to spend his last week before marriage on a road trip with his old roomie. Jack doesn't really want to be with Miles. He pays more than lip service to Miles' passion - wine tasting, only because it's a way to score with women. He has no intention of teaching Miles to golf, no intention of using the trip to bring up Miles' spirits...he just wants to get laid as much as possible before he ties the knot.

In and around the lovely area of Solvang, California, with fantastic scenes from the strangely rural California coast, Miles and Jack play out their week, discovering companions in friends Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh). Oh's character falls hard for Jack, and it is in the unraveling of his lies after the assignation the two have shared that Stephanie finds herself sideways...kicked to the curb. She exacts her revenge, but Miles suffers the most, in the loss of the good faith and care that Maya has given him. Knowing that he knew of Jack's perfidy, Maya finds it hard to forgive. Just when Maya and Miles have discovered that background music, (in this case, a love of fine wine) that turns an attraction between a couple into something much, much more...Miles stands to lose her.

Credit Madsen with an arresting performance; the romance between her and Miles, particularly her vulnerability in her monologue about why she loves wine, the essence of her strength and beauty shine through on the screen. Madsen's kicked around movies for nearly 20 years, appearing in little known features since she had some success in the mid-80's. About the closest she's come to a feature role in a commercially successful movie was as the abused wife, Jackie, in 1997's "The Rainmaker" by John Grisham. There are only so many parts for actresses over 40 around, and Streep and Sarandon are on everyone's list. With her performance in this film, and her chemistry with Giamatti, Madsen should be squarely back on the A-List for the rest of her career. I'd love to see them work together again, they had real onscreen chemistry.

Payne gives "Sideways" some of the light moments that made the novel so eclectic. There is no laugh out loud humor, no tear jerking....the film and the direction is too subtle for that. Those who expect a lot of action from their films didn't like "About Schmidt", and they won't like "Sideways" either. But that aside, this film continues to surprise at the box office, builds steam in its progress towards awards and honors, but most of all, satisfies the viewer and leaves you returning to it, musing, for days after. My only regret is that I saw "Sideways" alone, and it is the perfect film to see as part of a couple.

Rex Pickett's fine novel is still the better of the two, book or film, but I'm sure he's happy with Payne's interpretation of his work. I know I was.

Note: Similar to a review posted in Amazon.