Sideways

Sideways (2004)

Timing: 2:7 (127 min)

7.117/10
1857

7.003/10
15557

7.5/10
216000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 45

Actors and characters

Release date

2004-10-22

Country

Hungary, United States, Italy

Production

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Michael London Productions, Sideways Productions Inc.

Genre

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Budget

$16 000 000

Revenue

$109 334 629

Website

https://www.searchlightpictures.com/sideways

Director

Alexander Payne

Actors

Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh, Marylouise Burke, Jessica Hecht, Missy Doty, M.C. Gainey, Alysia Reiner, Shake Tukhmanyan
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Michael London, George Parra

Operator

Phedon Papamichael

Composer

Rolfe Kent

Artist

Audition

John Jackson

Editing

Kevin Tent, Yvonne Yaconelli
All team (28)

• During the preparation for filming, actress Sandra Oh had to learn the art of motorcycle riding.
• Alexander Payne independently selected the wine list for the film. Meanwhile, almost all the wines used in the wine tasting scenes were non-alcoholic. The actors had to drink so much that there were even cases of simple poisoning.
• The role of Jack was written specifically for George Clooney, however, director Alexander Payne believed that Clooney was too big a star for his project and declined his services.
• In the scene where Miles (Paul Giamatti) returns the golf ball to the players so that it ends up behind their backs, the shot is actually performed by the author of the novel on which the film is based, Rex Pickett. He insisted that Paul would never be able to make such a shot, and the film crew had to agree with him.
• The photograph Miles looks at during his visit to his parents' house is actually a picture of Paul Giamatti and his father (former National Baseball League Commissioner) Bart Giamatti.
• Thomas Hayden Church auditioned for Alexander Payne's previous film, "About Schmidt," but didn't get the role at the time.
• Most of the dialogue spoken around the table during the conversation between Miles, Jack, Maya, and Stephanie was pure improvisation.
• The food consumed by the actors during the filming of the scene at Miles' mother's house – Jack, Miles, and the 'landlady' herself – resulted in all three of them suffering from severe food poisoning.
• The filming of the scene at the "Frass Canyon" winery took place at the "Fess Parker" establishment, owned by 1950s Hollywood star Davy Crockett.
• The 1961 Cheval Blanc wine that Miles is saving for a special occasion is actually made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc – two grape varieties that Miles dismisses throughout the film.
• The film's 'wine' theme resonated so strongly with film fans that sales of Pinot Noir wine in the US increased by 20% between 2004 and 2005 (a similar boom was observed in the UK). At the same time, Merlot sales declined significantly during the same period.
• In an English literature class at the end of the film, one of Miles' students reads an excerpt from John Knowles' novel 'A Separate Peace' to the class.
• Both New York Times crosswords that Miles solves in the film were actually printed in that newspaper on September 27 and October 9, 2003.
• During filming, a romance blossomed between director Alexander Payne and actress Sandra Oh, and they married shortly thereafter, although their marriage lasted only a few months.
• The food consumed by the actors during the filming of the scene in Miles Jack's mother's house – Miles and the 'landlady' herself – led to all three becoming victims of severe poisoning.