over, under, sideways, down

Yesterday, Jimbo and his girlfriend went to the movies and saw Sideways. I definitely give it a rating of “worth seeing.”

You’re probably asking yourself right now, “Why does Jimbo seem to wait until a movie has been out for an eternity before he sees it and gives his opinion, so we know whether it is worth seeing? I would like to see Casablanca, but I want Jimbo’s opinion before I invest a couple of hours of my time into it, and I guess it has not been out long enough for Jimbo to see and review it.”

I guess my answer is that is a good question. I’ll try to do better. But, back to the subject of Sideways. It is about two old college buddies, one a failed writer, Miles, played by Paul Giamatti, and the other an actor, Jack, played by Thomas Haden Church, on sort-of a one week bachelor party.

I’m sure you are asking, “Is this hitting close to home, Jimbo?”

I say:

“Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy…”

Oh, that wasn’t the one you meant, was it. You certainly know how to twist the knife. But I digress.

The two travel to the California wine country and spend the week visiting vineyards and sampling the wine. Jack is to be married the following Saturday and it is his last opportunity for “freedom.” Miles is a wine lover and expert who can’t seem to get over his divorce of two years before and can’t come to grips with the fact that no one will publish a book he has written. There is a strange twist in this movie in that we immediately realize that Miles is a rat bastard who steals money from his mother, he’s a drunk, a liar and is having problems dealing with life, but he becomes likeable and we care about what happens to him. This is primarily because his friend Jack, the actor, is even more of a rat bastard-- an irresponsible womanizer and a fraud who seems to lack any redeeming social value. By the end of the movie, we are so repulsed at Jacks lack of morals, that Miles becomes our sympathetic favorite.

Oh, by the way, this movie is funny as hell. The two keep wandering into problems (primarily of their own making) and somehow managing to slip out of them by the narrowest of margins. Jack meets an Asian woman at a winery and the two begin dating each other. She is a friend of a waitress who is a casual acquaintance of Miles and the waitress and Miles begin dating also. Now, Jimbo is a man, and sometimes it is inferred that men can be somewhat insensitive to what is going on, but I picked up really early that Jack’s week of passion with the Asian woman is heading for disaster. Consequently that Miles’ relationship is also on the highway to hell because when it becomes apparent that Jack is engaged, Miles will be doomed by guilt by association. Jack’s relationship is a fling, but Miles believes his is real. Unfortunately, Miles didn’t remember what he learned in his first semester of Dealing With Women 101, so he steps into trouble with both feet.

The bottom line is that the two primary characters in this movie are adults, acting like kids, and their juvenile behavior is a recipe for disaster. I understand the movie is due out on DVD soon, so if you haven’t seen it, you may want to rent it and see what you think. I think you’ll like it.

Because in Jimbo’s world when we like something we want to make sure everybody knows.