Sideways

Fuck it. I’m giving Sideways the bump. My ultimate comfort movie at this stage of my 35 year old white man life. I must embrace it. When I first saw this within a year or two of it coming out I wretched. Two shitty middle age dudes with a ham-fisted score? It totally offended my sensibilities. I loved Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas. Real cinema. This was essentially a boomer cab (a phrase I would have loved to have in my pocket at the time) and trashy Oscar bait. Not art. I was so sure of that.  But things change. I’ve seen Sideways in bits and pieces a few more times in the 20 years that have followed with one focused rewatch about a year ago. And I’ve continued to crave it. Is it me getting older? Is it that I now know these areas of California and appreciate a road flick in a place that’s comforting? Is it that I have become a bit of a wine snob myself? Is it gulp that I’m just a shittier person because that’s what happens to old white guys with more money, therefore more willing to look past these guys shitty behavior? Do I relate to these shitbags a bit? Probably a little bit of all of that.  But more importantly I think I’m more attuned to a filmmakers ability to thread a needle. Whereas movies like Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction are broad crowd pleasers with cinematic flourishes (the macguffin, the long tracking shot) Sideways operates in a different space. It makes no real apologies for its characters or their behavior. It allows Jack to get away with everything. A more timid film would give him his comeuppance. The world is shitty and friendships are flawed and people do selfish shitty stuff! But there are pleasures in life and pockets where you can find happiness. And this captures that with honesty. And it’s a super fun road romp with a lot of specificity and detail that makes it endlessly rewatchable. I’m glad my taste has grown even if it’s in a way that would have disappointed my 20 year old self. I think that’s important. Even if I’m wrong.