Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Late for the Show
( "The Art of Looking Sideways" from Jane Andrews Co.)
There's a scene in Alexander Payne's movie, Sideways, when the driver of a beat-up Saab is a concrete block. At this point (3/4 of the way through), you are prepped for another thick-headed moment. So, you are surprised when the concrete block (no actor's name given in the film's credits) exercises better judgement in avoiding a potential hazard then do the two protagonists who substitute the block for themselves in the car. It's a funny scene; perhaps the only one in the movie that doesn't make you cringe. Empathy for either of the "heroes" changes to pity and then to a low level desire for comeupance within the first 10 minutes of the film, as one of the protagonists steals cash from his mom's not so secret hiding place in one of her clothing drawers. If the California wine industry was hoping this movie would raise people's interest in the wine-tasting tours out there in the Land of the Lotus eaters, I hope they did not set their hopes too high. The "Slacker" in Richard Linklater's film have been uprooted from Austin to California wine country and gotten melancholy.
My expectations were high for this film. I'd delayed seeing it to the point where I was reconciled to having to see it on video. But, lo and behold, it was still playing the 'burbs. There were enough stars given to it from various reviewers that made it a Fourth of July celebration. Perhaps there was a wine-tasting, free of course, offered to these folks when they went to see the movie. Clouded their judgement or put them into a mood of charity and mis-understanding.
Thank the casting director for Virginia Madsen. Aside from radiating wisdom, desire, and, especially, a sense of self, she's given the best lines in the movie. This is a "guy's" picture, which is a shame. The cast, while excellent, would have been better served if Ms. Madsen & Sandra Oh had been allowed to be the leads in a "girl's" version of this movie. Paul Giametti, Thomas Haden Church, and the concrete block would have been excellent foils for the two women. This would have made the movie an "Opus One" rather than the "Gallo" that it was (for me).
( "The Art of Looking Sideways" from Jane Andrews Co.)
There's a scene in Alexander Payne's movie, Sideways, when the driver of a beat-up Saab is a concrete block. At this point (3/4 of the way through), you are prepped for another thick-headed moment. So, you are surprised when the concrete block (no actor's name given in the film's credits) exercises better judgement in avoiding a potential hazard then do the two protagonists who substitute the block for themselves in the car. It's a funny scene; perhaps the only one in the movie that doesn't make you cringe. Empathy for either of the "heroes" changes to pity and then to a low level desire for comeupance within the first 10 minutes of the film, as one of the protagonists steals cash from his mom's not so secret hiding place in one of her clothing drawers. If the California wine industry was hoping this movie would raise people's interest in the wine-tasting tours out there in the Land of the Lotus eaters, I hope they did not set their hopes too high. The "Slacker" in Richard Linklater's film have been uprooted from Austin to California wine country and gotten melancholy.
My expectations were high for this film. I'd delayed seeing it to the point where I was reconciled to having to see it on video. But, lo and behold, it was still playing the 'burbs. There were enough stars given to it from various reviewers that made it a Fourth of July celebration. Perhaps there was a wine-tasting, free of course, offered to these folks when they went to see the movie. Clouded their judgement or put them into a mood of charity and mis-understanding.
Thank the casting director for Virginia Madsen. Aside from radiating wisdom, desire, and, especially, a sense of self, she's given the best lines in the movie. This is a "guy's" picture, which is a shame. The cast, while excellent, would have been better served if Ms. Madsen & Sandra Oh had been allowed to be the leads in a "girl's" version of this movie. Paul Giametti, Thomas Haden Church, and the concrete block would have been excellent foils for the two women. This would have made the movie an "Opus One" rather than the "Gallo" that it was (for me).
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