Sideways (2004)
Two old friends set off on a wine-tasting road trip only to veer dizzily sideways into a wry, comedic exploration of the crazy vicissitudes of love and friendship, the persistence of loneliness and dreams and the enduring war between Pinot and Cabernet.
Cast and Information
Directed By: Alexander Payne
Written By: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, Rex Pickett
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh, M.C. Gainey, Jessica Hecht, Alysia Reiner, Patrick Gallagher, Marylouise Burke, Shake Tukhmanyan, Missy Doty, Alex Kalognomos
Genres: Romance, Comedy, Drama, Adventure
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Sideways belongs to 68 collections
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Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 7 |  |
ozymandius10 | 91 98% |
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A movie where I sadly saw pieces of myself in Giamatti's character. It's a fun little romp, but doesn't lose any intelligence or wittiness along the way. Thomas Hayden Church was deserving of all the accolades he got for the movie (he shines).
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| 5 |  |
hellsditch | 89 92% |
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Two-plus hours that breezed by, and I was a bit saddened to see it end. I can't believe how much I enjoyed spending time with the two main characters, when they clearly aren't meant to be Hollywood-style "likable". In fact, nothing about the movie plays as you'd expect it to, which often results in the best comedies, in my book. The movie is also beautifully shot, while Giamatti and Church are both great at making you care about people that you would normally hate. Perfect ending, as well.
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| 5 |  |
INDYATMN | 100 99% |
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Great drama, great comedy, great characters. The four leads are perfectly cast. I would've never thought I'd find Sandra Oh sexy but she's just that in this. And like the rest of the film it's never blatant and all the more real for it. Cruise&Clooney were campaigning for the leads and god bless Payne for saying no. He knew he was fashioning something smaller but more refined. No "jokes" here, just humor that's a natural outgrowth of the characters and the situations they find themselves in.
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| 5 |  |
Paxton | 55 28% |
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I have a very limited pallate, both in regards to wine and indie movies that are lauded by critics. Whereas you may smell hints of orange rinds and honey, I smell hints of pretentiousness and Sandra Oh's face.
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| 4 |  |
frederic_g54 | 9 90% |
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(2nd viewing) One of the best ensemble cast you'll ever encounter, I loved the 2 leads, probably the best onscreen comedic duo since "Swingers". A highly entertaining and compelling indie film, I wasn't bored for a second. Is it me or does Church look like Alex Delarge ?
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| 4 | nunstrangler | 86 83% |
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Open a bottle of pinot noir and enjoy the darkly comedic road trip of two self-absorbed, middle-aged buddies in denial. Payne's film is for adults in the best possible way: it's intelligent, amusing, exasperating, and romantic--much like the characters themselves. Great performances by all.
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| 3 |  |
Difontaine | 89 94% |
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It's tempting to write this up as a wine review but I'll resist - suffice to say it is a truly great piece of modern cinema that only needs nostalgia to turn it into a classic
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| 3 |  |
glumpy_99 | 73 42% |
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Terrific performances by the star quartet carries this meandering serio-comedy much further than it deserves; Giamatti and Church's winning chemistry together is a particular delight (perhaps inspiring Coogan and Brydon's TRIP series?), though, as in all of Payne & Taylor's post-90s films, the female characters are denied the generous shots at redemption that their male counterparts receive; in an overlong film, the tasteless and unnecessary final act detour leaves a sour taste behind.
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| 3 |  |
DavidBlast | 70 65% |
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*double index finger on temple pose* Wasn't this... that red wine movie, where characters were portrayed with such disdain, that it almost seemed as something that could have been directed by Alexander Payne? *fact checking* Ha! A great memory, who needs it? Now where did I put my.. glassey-cuppie with the uh.. red-makey-feeley-whizzy-funny...
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| 3 | Bricks | 72 82% |
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Probably better suited for the early middle-aged crowd but I found it entertaining nonetheless. Made me want to buy some wine more than anything.
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| 3 |  |
Pickpocket | 10 98% |
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A well written, often hilarious, fun, charming film. This is perfectly cast and this is coming from someone who usually hates Sandra Oh. I just really love this film and I can't explain why. Thomas Haden Church was born to play Jack. Jack: If they want to drink Merlot, we're drinking Merlot. Miles: No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!
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| 2 |  |
billkerwin | 91 86% |
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As good as a small film can get. Excellent set design (these people inhabit actual places you'd think they'd inhabit), a lot of good acting, and a realistic and moving story about flawed, vulnerable people.
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| 2 |  |
angrypierre | 93 97% |
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Dark, melancholic and ultimately tremendously uplifting. I caught myself grinning contently to myself most of the way through, breaking into a huge smile at the end. Absolutely loved it.
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| 2 |  |
Okkervil | 88 94% |
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Funny, intelligent and heartwarming comedy drama. Giamatti is pure class here.
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| 2 |  |
cambel | 89 93% |
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Payne is at his best.
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| 2 |  |
SlrSoapbox | 50 18% |
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The outpouring of critical love for this film mystifies me. I hate the selfish, neurotic and despicable characters and I don't give a damn about wine.
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| 2 |  |
SailorRipley | 93 89% |
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Take a simple story, add wit, charm, gloriously fine dialog and top acting. Cook until it warms. Spice with some big laughs toward the end. Result: A little jewel of a film that fortunately knows how good it is. Take it slow with Pinot not Merlot!
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| 2 | Talea | 30 0% |
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Had this movie starred Ashton Kutcher and Chad Michael Murray, it would've been rightly ignored by anyone with a brain. However, apparently middle aged men behaving like selfish idiots makes for a charming film, if you ask most critics. Me, I'm nonplussed. If I want to spend two hours with drunken boors, I'll go to a sports bar.
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| 2 |  |
Bown | 83 68% |
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Paul Giamatti is a highly underrated actor. Also this film ends on potentially the most perfect note ever.
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| 2 |  |
understamp | 30 23% |
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I hope I never become like these people.
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| 2 |  |
TripleSH | 88 86% |
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Personally, I thought it was good. It really wasn't a movie about anything, per se, but the performances were still real and very believable. Deserves all of the hype it got, even if it isn't some sort of poignant blockbuster film.
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| 2 |  |
gtown1479 | 80 70% |
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Besides learning how to taste wine I remembered that Giamatti can be pretty darn funny. His dry humor carried the film for me. The whole scene at the bowling alley was pretty good too, watching Giamatti's expressions with the smoke and seeing his friend try to somewhat kidsit. I thought the beginning of the movie dragged a bit, but also understand that you need to keep the scene with the mom in it. Overall it was solid.
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| 1 |  |
Pepsi-Man | 1 11% |
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An exercise in boredom and unlikable characters.
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| 1 |  |
Anselmi86 | 94 94% |
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Possibly best film of 2004 and one of the most pleasant surprises I've ever had in a movie theater. The movie is fun, captivating and touching throughout, as well as head over heels HILARIOUS.
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| 1 |  |
ewp805 | 90 94% |
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Well written indie comedy with two leads that push it to another level. I started out really disliking Giamatti's character, but had pulled a 180 by the end, and Church is stellar as the hedonistic Jack. So many memorable scenes, but one that truly stands out is the painful image of Miles alone, drinking his prized wine from a disposable coffee cup at a fast-food restaurant. Very entertaining flick with some brains, and Payne captured it all with grace.
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| 1 | mochajet | 85 84% |
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I thought I was just gonna be like....hmm, it's OK, but I really liked this movie, and it made me like and have real respect for Paul Giamatti. I like his style and demeanor.
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| 1 |  |
andysor | 82 84% |
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Low key film that doesn't have some profound message. It just tells an amusing, heart-warming story in realistic textures with terrific characters you really get to know. Amongst all the bloat these days I consider this a rare gem indeed.
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| 1 | worleyjamers | 95 98% |
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A special film, the kind that stays with you days after watching it. The word that comes to mind when I think about this movie is, rich. Each scene is so perfectly constructed and full of so much heart and soul; the characters are fully realized, well developed, and perfectly portrayed by an amazing cast. Payne's direction is brilliant, this is easily his best film he's ever done. And the script is fun, charming, interesting, real, and resonant.
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| 1 |  |
wetwillies | 85 59% |
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Viewed July 22, 2021. It's fucked that I'm 25 and I'm already Paul Giamatti's character.
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| 1 | Totoro. | 85 82% |
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Well written and funny. Giamatti/Oh are excellent.
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| 1 |  |
deaddilly | 85 84% |
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Flows wonderfully, with ultra realistic characters and a perfect setting. A more mature "Swingers" that feels more wholesome and enjoyable. Wish I'd seen this sooner.
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| 1 |  |
jswinder | 85 83% |
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I can't tolerate Paul Giamatti in a lead role. I don't like looking at him, and I don't like listening to him. His whole disposition is unnerving. He's always reminded me of the kind of self loathing whiner I can't stand, and then behold, he gives a career performance portraying just that. He's obviously a tremendously talented actor, and does a very good job playing unlikeable characters. See Adams
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| 1 | Plainview9 | 94 85% |
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Sideways was the best film of 2004.
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| 1 | forehead1 | 70 87% |
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One of those that isn't crammed with thigh-slapping laugh-out-loud moments but leaves you with a perma-smirk plastered across your face throughout, Sideways is an atmospheric, slow-burning, mature comedy drama. Madsen is impressive but it's Giamatti - allowed to flex his acting muscles in the lead role as a wine-geek fuckup - who really brings the character and story alive. Payne must also be commended for his screenwriting and direction. I may even still be underrating this one.
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| 1 |  |
Augusto | 80 34% |
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Delicious, wonderful, a little modern masterpiece. Payne is really a very good director. Giamatti is great, lovely. Haden Church is so funny and Madsen is very cute. Outstanding.
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| 1 |  |
tinysausage | 85 95% |
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Superb comedy that takes its subjects: love and friendship, seriously. Career-best performances all round, particularly from Giamatti. Also, why isn't Virginia Madsen in more films?
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| 1 |  |
Tjekhov | 70 69% |
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Great second unit work.
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| 1 |  |
hellboy76 | 73 89% |
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Wonderful writing and a realistic feel to most of the characters (if not the specific situations). Well done.
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| 1 |  |
thegreyfox | 85 85% |
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Giamatti and Church are simply superb in this wonderful comedy drama ... it is not perfect by any means (the "reclaiming the wallet" scene is woefully out of place) but as an exploration of the polar opposites in men, either "why would women resist me?" to "why would women want me?" this is a just a perfect, frustrating, awkward, funny, intelligent and melancholic film. The way wine ( pinot) is used almost as a metaphor for Miles life was beautifully done.
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| 1 |  |
NothingsGood | 0 1% |
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Not funny. Not dramatic. Everyone in this movie is an unlikable jerk. Why?
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| 1 |  |
jack parsons | 6 27% |
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"No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any f***ing Merlot!" Giamatti is great. The acting overall is good. I just wasn't that interested, even though it grabbed a few laughs from me.
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| 1 | redmachined | 1 15% |
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Pretentious masturbatory shitgasm revolving around being a wine prick and cheating on your fiancee.
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| 1 |  |
ronthedog | 87 89% |
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This isn't a comedy of belly laughs but the chemistry of the acting and the attention to detail of sets and costumes make this excellent.
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| 1 |  |
dwhee | 99 98% |
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A perfect blend of hilarious and heart-breaking. Like "Road Trip" if everyone was cultured. Great movie.
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| 1 |  |
MartinTeller | 73 46% |
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It's a nice character study piece, but nothing at all to go ga-ga over.
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| 1 |  |
Magb | 75 50% |
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What is there to say about Sideways? It's a nice movie; it just isn't strongly noteworthy for, well, anything. Nice acting, nice characters, nice sense of humor. Nice, nice, nice. Nothing too far out of the ordinary. Which is part of the point, I suppose.
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| 1 |  |
CCLZA | 80 77% |
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Payne lets the brilliant satire aside and brings a delightful romantic comedy with some dark humor moments and quality brought up mainly due to the solid cast.
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| 1 | monkaholic | 100 99% |
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I loved this movie!! Excellent cast!!
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| 1 | Med | 73 43% |
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Nice but it's not extraordinary.
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| 1 |  |
caucazn | 79 30% |
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funny movie but dont really give a shit about wine.
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| 1 | Buster | 10 1% |
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Hated it. Smug ... superior ... full of itself... and worst of all ... NOT EVEN FUNNY !!
That the critics and the Academy went ga-ga over it is simply mind boggling.
Alexander Payne is a hateful **** !
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| 1 | Loki | 70 52% |
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It's an okay movie, with a few really good parts. Sort of bland.
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| 1 | Chili | 30 7% |
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Ech, I really don't see why this film recieved such high acclaim, it really just sucked.
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| 1 |  |
lrampartl | 98 99% |
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When I saw it in theaters, when Miles opens a door looking for the '61, I thought he was putting his head in an oven. When you connect to a character to the point where you fear the worst, the film has done its job.
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| 1 | SavageLucy42 | 76 37% |
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Overrated.
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| 1 |  |
TheDiceman | 80 95% |
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Excellent.
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| 1 |  |
Kojiless | 40 43% |
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Has its moments, but more often than not I just wanted to smack the main characters for acting so anal. Is this how middle-aged people in California behave? Did I have to ask that?
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| 1 |  |
Ytadel | 7 83% |
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A warm, endearing, true-to-life dramedy with a great script and terrific acting, especially from the two male leads. Also, it made me want to kill myself 90% less than About Schmidt, so thumbs up for that.
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| 1 | jlKeller | 85 38% |
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I guess I need 4 more viewings!
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| 1 |  |
Vince Leo (Qwipster's Movie Reviews) | 85 94% |
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With a skill and finesse that may not have a rival in today's American cinema, Alexander Payne has made a movie to last, instead of going for the quick payoff of easy laughs. [Full Review]
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| 1 | sushiwriter | 100 99% |
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Very few films exist where I stop what I am doing and watch it, regardless of what point I start watching, and regardless of what else I have to do. This is one of those movies.
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| 1 |  |
Nathan S | 4 74% |
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Lots of great dialogue, if a little heavy on the angst. They couldn't have cast anybody to do it better than Paul Giamatti, though. He's excellent, and his chemistry with Thomas Haden Church is hilarious.
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| 1 |  |
weirdyoda | 95 94% |
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Picture perfect example of great screenwriting and acting.
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| 1 | MunchForever | 100 98% |
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Paul Giamatti is absolutely excellent in this comedy. I absolutely love the film and the subtle humor placed here and there among the film. Really enjoyable
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| 1 |  |
TedDedon | 75 50% |
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Good comedy with a solid ensemble cast. It's never overly interesting or engaging but it's certainly never boring either.
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| 1 |  |
nimno | 7 6% |
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This was one of those so-called "critically acclaimed" movies that everyone should see. I saw it but it was mostly... uh... boring and forgettable.
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| 1 |  |
KasperL | 80 86% |
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This is as enjoyable and unassuming as indies get. You just want to give it a big hug.
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| 1 |  |
Adrianics | 92 86% |
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A sad, funny, mellow look at what a typical frat boy dynamic between a lady's man and a loner would look like mid-age. Sometimes dry, sometimes bitter, sometimes incredibly sweet, the tone of this film is as refreshingly diverse as the wine it describes.
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| 1 |  |
jstry | 91 93% |
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Long, but I really enjoyed watching it and never felt like it was dragging. Casting was great and I came to really care about the characters, despite their flaws. All in all, this was a really enjoyable film that I would definitely watch again.
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| 1 |  |
Evolution | 83 79% |
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Brilliant ending.
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| 1 |  |
Barthalen | 83 88% |
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What a wonderful balance of sadness, painful awkwardness and humor. It's not insanely deep or won't blow the viewer away, but it definitely hit all the right notes. Giamatti shows his amazing range as an actor.
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| 1 |  |
hehejaja | 80 76% |
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A funny and vulnerable film.
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| 1 |  |
ott | 25 9% |
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very dull aroma with a shitty after taste, has a cheesy note
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Displaying 1 to 250 of 310 total ratings: Prev | Next
| Average Percentile 56.01% from 8746 Ratings |  |