Sideways

[kostgard]

Yeah, Giamatti's character also financed the weekend by stealing money from his mom's secret stash. He didn't seem like an oblivious sociopath. So, maybe it would have been better if guilt had made him more reticent about judging the cheating.

I saw his character as torn - he tried to warn THC's character about the cheating because he was burned by it himself - I don't think it was flat-out stated, but it was pretty clear that he cheated on his wife and that's why she left him. I came away with the feeling of that's why he was judging (or at least realizing what a mistake he was making), but he also felt that he wasn't in a position to really say anything - which is why he never told Sandra Oh's character (and only accidentally told Virginia Madsen's character).

Giamatti's character was one that hated himself for all the things he's done wrong, and kept doing them, thinking "Well, I'm scum anyway. This is what scum does." I think it really ate at him that his friend also did horrible things, but nothing ever stuck and he never paid the price for them. In the end, he realized that he had to let go of all that bitterness and just move forward.

[Ginger]

A couple of people have mentioned that the movie is about lying--people lying to themselves and lying to each other. It's funny to count up all the lies Miles tells. It starts with him lying to Jack about why he's late for the trip (he says traffic or something, when it's really that he overslept), he lies to Jack about how Maya found out about the wedding, and really he's lying to himself about his wine appreciation because a lot of the time it's just an excuse for him to get drunk.

I thought the movie got its morals a little bit wrong. ...... I also still don't know though why Sandra Oh's character brought her child into the whole affair. For my likeing she moved far too quickly.

But that's not the movie's morals, that's the character's morals--there's a huge difference. The character was intentionally portrayed as a woman with bad judgment, especially in relation to her child. She moved way too fast with this new boyfriend, even allowing him to put her daughter to bed after knowing him for only two days. She also didn't care that her daughter saw her smoking pot. There's also some subtext there about the character being adopted (her mother is white) and being a single mother and a biker, so maybe she's got some issues that cause her to be a little "wild".

[jaghetersimon]

You know, now that they're playing this movie ad nauseum on HBO, it's starting to grow on me with multiple viewings.

Miles and Jack are both pricks--Jack is just more honest about it. The way that Miles freaks out after learning that his book won't be published is such classic alcoholic, asshole behavior. I can't see how anyone could find that scene funny. Maya seemed totally one-dimensional and not a convincing character IMHO, but I still wished that she would have seen Miles for the tool that he is.

When he begs for forgiveness (is this a spoiler?) his acting looks wooden and I always waited for Miles (Giamatti) to crack up as it seemed so unreal. But now, it was meant to be real??

I think that it's supposed to be an example of Jack's crap "acting." He was on soap operas, after all.

When Jack says that Maya was "sans rock," I laugh my ass off. There's something about the delivery.

[Deleted]

I thought Maya was the most grounded character in the movie, the rest of them were pretty selfish asshats. My interpretation of the ending is that Miles will become a better person hooking up with Maya. He did tell her about Jack getting married instead of lying to her about it. So I think there was hope for Miles, not for Jack though.

This is one movie where I would like to see a sequel, to see what happened to them all.

[jaghetersimon]

He did tell her about Jack getting married instead of lying to her about it.

He told her by accident! And then he couldn't even admit to Jack that it was him.

I like Sandra Oh's character the best, her spotty mothering skills aside. She had real personality and spunk, unlike Maya, who seemed like a big ball of blah.

[Deleted]

What I remember: Miles and Maya are having a picnic somewhere and Maya wanted both of them to do somewhere. Miles then mentioned he couldn't go because he and Jack had to get back for a rehearsal dinner. Then Maya says, Who is getting married? Then the next scene is Maya storming off with Miles following her back to the car.

He could have lied to Maya about someone else getting married, but he didn't.

I liked the Stephanie character also, but her choice in men was pretty bad!

[anne]

I loved this movie when I saw it last Spring. Then, I heard so many people talk about hating it that I think that my memory of it got negative for no good reason. I've watched a lot of it in bits and pieces while it's been on HBO the past few days, and it gave me a new take on Miles.

In the scene on the porch, right before Maya gives her speech about why she loves wine, she asks Miles why he loves Pinots. The response he gives is the entire description and explanation of his character. He talks about how Pinot grapes can't just grow and thrive anywhere. They need a lot of care and attention, blah blah blah, so that when you find a great Pinot, you know it's the result of a lot of work and attention.

Miles is a Pinot. He has it in him to be a good guy, but he just has not gotten the care and attention that he has to have in order to thrive. Maya (a horticulturist - who I believe in her speech in that scene is talking about people in her life as much as wine) comes into his life and gives him the love, attention, and encouragement that he needs to thrive. Because of her, he becomes a better guy, and becomes that perfect bottle of Pinot.

[jaghetersimon]

I'm sorry, but that's codependent bullshit. You have to find the good things inside you yourself. Miles's wine speech was just him making excuses for himself and his shitty behavior.