Sideways

Miles is a depressed middle-school English teacher in San Diego, a failed novelist still mourning his divorce, and a passionate wine snob. His old college friend Jack, a fading TV actor, is getting married in a week. Miles takes him on a road trip through the wine country of Santa Barbara County to celebrate: golf, good food, great wine. Jack has other plans. He wants one last fling before the wedding. Along the way they meet Maya, a waitress who knows as much about wine as Miles does, and Stephanie, who pours the wine at a tasting room.

Alexander Payne makes comedies about disappointed people, and this is his best. Paul Giamatti is perfect as Miles, a man so afraid of failure he can barely let himself be happy. Thomas Haden Church is hilarious as Jack, and Virginia Madsen has the film's most beautiful scene, a monologue about why she loves wine that is really about how she sees life. The famous line about Merlot changed how a whole country drank.

It is funny, sad and very human, a film about middle age, friendship and second chances. The California landscape, golden and lazy, gives it a gentle glow. It won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The rare American comedy that feels like a European film. A pleasure, best enjoyed with a glass of Pinot.