I’d seen this movie before I’d ever been wine tasting however after having gone tasting a couple times the gags and the particular social dynamics are even funnier. Haden Church and Giamatti play off each other perfectly, with Giamatti being way too into his head and overthinking everything and Haden Church playing a very particular kind of California douche. I had more appreciation this time around for the drunk directing too, the way the camera just goes a bit more blurry with some occasional superimpositions. You can tell how drunk the characters are at any given moment. Most impressive though is Payne’s writing here, which makes you root for these piece of shit characters and balances the drama with the comedy perfectly. It’s cringey at times, and thoughtful at times, and transitions between these moments perfectly.  I took my dad to an outdoor showing of this movie and seeing him laugh throughout, mostly in anticipation of the gags gave me so much joy.

A very well-done romance dramedy starring two Spider-Man villains. Giamatti plays another miserable character well, and Haden Church plays another jerk well. Everyone and everything in this film is amazing, except for the ending, in my opinion. The ending is good, just not as strong as the rest of the film. I’ll just say it wasn’t bad enough for me to remove points from the film because of it.  Overall, a strong 4.5/5. Payne has done Giamatti so well, even though he’s an outstanding actor on his own.

a generational movie about wine with generational liars i love it