Going Sideways

It's a shame that I haven't seen any of director Alexander Payne's works before, that Kulas and I only relied on the fact that Sideways was a Golden Globe and Academy nominee for Best Picture, and on remembering that we had previously made a mental note to watch it upon seeing the trailer.

Miles and Jack go on a wine tasting tour a week before one-time soap opera actor Jack ties the knot. Miles leads him into central California hoping to have a full-on bachelor bash with Jack: checking in a countryside motel, plans of early morning golf, meals at the local diner-clearly Miles' idea of partying, while Jack was looking forward to getting laid and being crazy days before he gets married.

The film unfolds and so do the lives of these two men brilliantly summed up in a week but truly enough to get to know the two characters. We are not expected to like Miles and Jack: one is a self-pitying divorcee who waits for his agent's call about his novel and the other is a pathetic oaf who merits the usual tsk tsk but gets laid just the same. And who's likeable between the two of them? None actually. But we see ourselves so much in Miles and Jack and in waitresses-friends Maya and Stephanie that we go with them through the week-long drive. These characters are as real as that office girl you sat beside with on the Ayala-bound MRT this morning, or that guy in a blue long-sleeved shirt who kicked the ATM because it refused to spew out his hard-earned 15th day salary. In fact, we recognize ourselves--friends, colleagues, family--in the film that it succeeds in achieving three things, take your pick: our hearts being broken and ending up getting depressed; or we cry in acknowledgment of the crazy world we're in, find solace in it, make the most out of it and move on; or stare at a blank wall and question your existence.

The wine as an important metaphor also succeeds in encompassing our mundane lives or at least, how our lives should be. From the grapes, to the season it grew in and to the hands that harvested them till it ferments, there is that story that goes with every sip of the wine. Maya, that sad-eyed waitress with whom Miles opens up, articulates her passion for wine and at the same time marks a thoroughly romantic sans the cheesiness scene in the film. No, we don't see her and Miles tear their clothes off; it was only Maya's reaching for Miles' hand as they talk about their passions, a first kiss that doesn't really go a long way, and that knock on Maya's door that would hopefully redeem Miles at the end of the film.

Walking out of the cinema, I was left in awe of how much humans are capable of feeling. I was heartbroken and I wanted to cry for all the mishaps I've gone through and the heartaches I've caused a few people. I was doubtful of the way we try to find happiness in another person or love in somebody else's eyes. Yet I also walked out lucidly deliberating the numerous options of living: exploring friendships, breaking and un-breaking people's hearts, getting crazy once in a while, taking long drives, wine, poetry, loving and making love, hello's and goodbyes and the innumerable polarities that border on sappiness--and I walked out happy.


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"I'm a thumbprint on a window of a skyscraper"

"I'm so insignificant I can't even kill myself"

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I will have to watch it again or better yet buy a DVD of "Sideways". Sarap ulit-ulitin. Go watch it guys. If you want, I'll go with you and I promise I won't spoil it for you :)