History Film / Sideways

* StartsStealthilyEndsLoudly: Miles takes several minutes quietly breaking into the waitress's house (with her husband) to find Jack's wallet, and finds to his horror it's in her bedroom (and for further horror, while she and her husband are having wild sex over her being caught with Jack earlier). Realizing he'd have a head start with their position, he simply runs in, grabs it, and dashes out with the naked old husband in angry pursuit.

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The scene in which Miles has to retrieve Jack's wallet, walks in on a couple having sex and is chased off by the naked husband. Giamatti noted this trope is the only way Alexander Payne will put a sex scene in his movie (see also: ''AboutSchmidt'').
* NaughtyByNight: According to Jack, this is Stephanie. ("She is NASTY, Miles! Nasty, nasty, nasty!")

* BittersweatEnding: [[spoiler: Miles' wife is moving on, and his novel is probably never going to get published, but he still has a chance with Maya.]]

* TheAlcoholic: Miles.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: The film ends with Miles looking to rekindle their friendship. The novel, however ends with Maya going to Jack's wedding as Miles' date and his apparent redemption.]]

* WineIsClassy: TheMovie!

* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: The film ends with Miles looking to rekindle their friendship.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Reconstructed with Jack. [[spoiler: He sleeps with two different women on the trip, including the day before his wedding. When one of these women learns he's getting married, Jack gets his face smashed. To explain the broken nose to his fiancée, Jack runs Miles' car into a tree, giving the appearance they had been in an accident. It appears that Jack feels real resentment and really wants to go back to his fiancee, which sort of "earns him" a second chance. Ultimately, Jack ends up happily married to her as scheduled.]]

* TheRedStapler: Miles' remarkably negative reaction to "fucking Merlot" caused sales of the wine variety to subsequently collapse. Miles' favored Pinot Noirs, on the other hand, became much more popular.

A 2004 comedy/drama. Middle-aged [[HeterosexualLifePartners BFFs]] Miles (Creator/PaulGiamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) take off to California's wine country for the week as Miles's gift to Jack before he is to be married on Saturday with Miles as best man. Both, however, have a hidden agenda: Miles [[DrowningMySorrows just wants to drink]] as he's clinically depressed about his divorce (two years and counting) and failure to get his novels published; Jack [[OneLastFling wants to get laid one more time]] before settling down with one woman. During the week, they encounter two women: one is Maya (Creator/VirginiaMadsen), a kind-hearted, beautiful, and intelligent woman who Miles has longed after for a while (not in the least because she's just as knowledgeable about wine as he is) but CanNotSpitItOut. The other is Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a spirited MILF wine pourer who instantly takes Jack up on his charming advances. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]], [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]], [[BittersweetEnding and bittersweetness ensues.]] And wine drinking. Lots of it.

A 2004 comedy/drama. Middle-aged [[HeterosexualLifePartners BFFs]] Miles (Creator/PaulGiamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) take off to California's wine country for the week as Miles's gift to Jack before he is to be married on Saturday with Miles as best man. Both, however, have a hidden agenda: Miles [[DrowningMySorrows just wants to drink]] as he's clinically depressed about his divorce (two years and counting) and failure to get his novels published; Jack [[OneLastFling wants to get laid one more time]] before settling down with one woman. During the week, they encounter two women: one is Maya (Virginia Madsen), a kind-hearted, beautiful, and intelligent woman who Miles has longed after for a while (not in the least because she's just as knowledgeable about wine as he is) but CanNotSpitItOut. The other is Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a spirited MILF wine pourer who instantly takes Jack up on his charming advances. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]], [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]], [[BittersweetEnding and bittersweetness ensues.]] And wine drinking. Lots of it.

It opened to universal acclaim, winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Golden Globes for Best Picture- Musical/Comedy and Best Screenplay, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast, which was notable since that ensemble was made up of only four actors instead of the usual [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters loads and loads of actors]]. It was also a huge success, being Fox's biggest indie hit ever at the time, scoring $70 million domestically after an initial limited release turned into an eventual wide release. It elevated Paul Giamatti from character actor (as seen in films like ''The Negotiator'' and ''Film/TheTrumanShow'') to billed actor in more mainstream films. It put the careers of Thomas Haden Church and Sandra Oh on the map after a career in bit roles; Church nabbed the role as The Sandman in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' based off his performance here and Sandra Oh landed a key role in ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' shortly after the film's release. It also resurrected the career of Virginia Madsen, an '80s sex symbol who had been relegated over the years as simply "Michael Madsen's sister".

[[TheRedStapler Interest in wine and tours shot up like crazy after the film came out]]; it even affected the sales of certain wines. Miles's love of Pinot Noir caused that wine's sales to soar, while his disparaging of Merlot ("If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving; I am NOT drinking any FUCKING Merlot!") caused Merlot's sales to dip, although it continues to be the most prevalent wine in the States.

Also bizarrely got [[ForeignRemake a remake by the Japanese.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Reconstructed with Jack. [[spoiler: He sleeps with two different women on the trip, including the day before his wedding. When one of these women learns he's getting married, Jack gets his face smashed. To explain the broken nose to his fiancée, Jack runs Miles' car into a tree, giving the appearance they had been in an accident. Ultimately, Jack ends up happily married to her as scheduled.]]

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Part of Miles' reluctance to pursue Maya is that he feels she's a bit out of his league. After all, she is a middle-aged hottie, and he's, well, Paul Giamatti.

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The scene in which Miles has to retrieve Jack's wallet, walks in on a couple having sex and is chased off by the naked husband.

It opened to universal acclaim, winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Golden Globes for Best Picture- Musical/Comedy and Best Screenplay, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast, which was notable since that ensemble was made up of only four actors instead of the usual [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters loads and loads of actors]]. It was also a huge success, being Fox's biggest indie hit ever at the time, scoring $70 million domestically after an initial limited release turned into an eventual wide release. It elevated Paul Giamatti from character actor (as seen in films like ''The Negotiator'' and ''Film/TheTrumanShow'') to billed actor in more mainstream films. It put the careers of Thomas Haden Church and Sandra Oh on the map after a career in bit roles; Church nabbed the role as The Sandman in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' based off his performance here and Sandra Oh landed a key role in ''[[GreysAnatomy Grey's Anatomy]]'' shortly after the film's release. It also resurrected the career of Virginia Madsen, an '80s sex symbol who had been relegated over the years as simply "Michael Madsen's sister".

[[TheRedStapler Interest in wine and tours shot up like crazy after the film came out]]; it even affected the sales of certain wines. Miles's love of pinot noir caused that wine's sales to soar, while his disparaging of Merlot ("If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving; I am NOT drinking any FUCKING Merlot!") caused Merlot's sales to dip, although it continues to be the most prevalent wine in the States.

* BerserkButton: Miles will ''not'' drink any [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] merlot. He'd also appreciate it if you didn't bring up his wife getting re-married or his affair during that marriage.
* BigShutUp: Miles when Jack won't stop talking while he's trying to take a golf swing.
-->'''Miles''': Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! JESUS CHRIST, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, WOULD YOU PLEASE '''JUST SHUT UP'''! FUCK!
** Also invoked when Jack brings up the subject of Miles' infidelity ("Shut up, shut your face! Shut up!") Easily Miles' most firmly assertive and arguably his angriest moment in the film; he's not messing around when it comes to that subject, which Jack immediately drops.

* GilliganCut: Jack is already miffed that Miles is stopping at his mom's house on her birthday on the way to wine country, and gets moreso when Miles takes her up on her offer for food.

* InsufferableGenius: Miles. It's so deep that the one of the main reasons he can't let go of his ex and his attraction to Maya is that they're both equally astute about wine as he is.
** A visual example, pointed out on the DVD commentary, is that Miles always does the Times crossword puzzle ''in pen''.

* {{Jerkass}}: Both Miles and Jack have traits of this; Miles steals money from his mother for the trip, Jack has a goal of sleeping with other women before he gets married. It is one of the film's greatest triumphs that they win us over as eventual [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold jerks with a heart of gold]].
* KarmaHoudini: Jack, for the most part. [[spoiler: Despite sleeping with two different women on the trip, including the day before his wedding and lying about it to his fiancee, he ends up happily married to her as scheduled. Prior this though, when one of those women learns he's getting married, Jack gets his face smashed, so he doesn't escape karma entirely.]]

A 2004 comedy/drama. Middle-aged [[HeterosexualLifePartners BFFs]] Miles (Creator/PaulGiamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) take off to California's wine country for the week as Miles's gift to Jack before he is to be married on Saturday with Miles as best man. Both, however, have a hidden agenda: Miles [[DrowningMySorrows just wants to drink]] as he's clinically depressed about his divorce (two years and counting) and failure to get his novels published; Jack [[OneLastFling wants to get laid one more time]] before settling down with one woman. During the week, they encounter two women: one is Maya (Creator/VirginiaMadsen), a kind-hearted, beautiful, and intelligent woman who Miles has longed after for a while (not in the least because she's just as knowledgeable about wine as he is) but CanNotSpitItOut. The other is Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a spirited MILF wine pourer who instantly takes Jack up on his charming advances. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]], [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]], [[BittersweetEnding and bittersweetness ensues.]] And wine drinking. Lots of it.

* SuperSenses: Miles when it comes to wine; he can even detect vegetables and cheeses in wine. Compare to real wine tasters, who have been known to lambast wine from one bottle and simultaneously lend glowing praise to another bottle from the exact same batch, simply because some bright spark managed to convince them that the second bottle was from a vintage that cost $30 more.

It opened to universal acclaim, winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Golden Globes for Best Picture- Musical/Comedy and Best Screenplay, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast, which was notable since that ensemble was made up of only four actors instead of the usual [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters loads and loads of actors]]. It was also a huge success, being Fox's biggest indie hit ever at the time, scoring $70 million domestically after an initial limited release turned into an eventual wide release. It elevated Paul Giamatti from character actor (as seen in films like ''The Negotiator'' and ''Film/TheTrumanShow'') to billed actor in more mainstream films. It put the careers of Thomas Haden Church and Sandra Oh on the map after a career in bit roles; Church nabbed the role as The Sandman in ''[[Film/SpiderMan Spider-Man 3]]'' based off his performance here and Sandra Oh landed a key role in ''[[GreysAnatomy Grey's Anatomy]]'' shortly after the film's release. It also resurrected the career of Virginia Madsen, an '80s sex symbol who had been relegated over the years as simply "Michael Madsen's sister".

* MythologyGag: Shares the same universe as ''Film/{{Election}}'', since both films were directed and partially written by AlexanderPayne. Look for the principal from the high school from ''Film/{{Election}}'' at the country club, who even appears in the credits as "Vacationing Dr. Walt Hendricks".

A 2004 comedy/drama. Middle-aged [[HeterosexualLifePartners BFFs]] Miles (Creator/PaulGiamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) take off to California's wine country for the week as Miles's gift to Jack before he is to be married on Saturday with Miles as best man. Both, however, have a hidden agenda: Miles [[DrowningMySorrows just wants to drink]] as he's clinically depressed about his divorce (two years and counting) and failure to get his novels published; Jack [[OneLastFling wants to get laid one more time]] before settling down with one woman. During the week, they encounter two women: one is Maya (Virginia Madsen), a kind-hearted, beautiful, and intelligent woman who Miles has longed after for a while (not in the least because she's just as knowledgeable about wine as he is) but CanNotSpitItOut. The other is Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a spirited MILF wine pourer who instantly takes Jack up on his charming advances. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]], [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]], [[BittersweetEnding and bittersweetness ensues.]] And wine drinking. Lots of it.

-->'''Jack''': Let me call you back...it's OK, it's just Miles, he's having one of his breakdowns.

* JerkAss: Both Miles and Jack have traits of this; Miles steals money from his mother for the trip, Jack has a goal of sleeping with other women before he gets married. It is one of the film's greatest triumphs that they win us over as eventual [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold jerks with a heart of gold]].

* ChekhovsGun: Miles's unopened 1961 Chateau Cheval Blanc, which he was saving for a special occasion worth celebrating. [[spoiler: He opens it and glumly drinks it out of a Styrofoam cup with a fast-food meal, with none of his usual fervor over great wine, after seemingly hitting rock bottom at the end of the movie.]]

** Also invoked when Jack brings up the subject of Miles' infidelity ("Shut up, shut your face! Shut up!") Easily Miles' most firmly assertive and arguably his angriest moment in the film; he's not messing around when it comes to that subject, which Jack immediately drops.

-->Also invoked when Jack brings up the subject of Miles' infidelity. "Shut up. Shut your face. Shut up." Easily Miles' most firmly assertive moment. He's not messing around.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Miles's typical and immediate response to bad news, like when he learns his ex-wife is newly married, or Maya having the night off when he goes to th restaurant just to see her, or that [[spoiler: his book isn't being published]].

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Miles's typical response to bad news, like when he learns his ex-wife is newly married or that [[spoiler: his book isn't being published]].