I can't even begin to add to the analyses and criticisms that have preceded me, but the one (actually, two) thing(s) about SIDEWAYS that just did it for me were:
As a BIG wine drinker from way back, they got all of the details absolutely right. Kistler, Cheval Blanc, the tiresome popularity of forward-fruit Merlots these days.
But that's a minor point.
My original point was:
Every single time Miles checked his messages, every single time Miles called his agent: There was a knife going through my stomach. I'm a writer, and I know exactly how that feels, and I know exactly how it feels to keep telling yourself that no news is good news, even when you know it's already been far too long.
And that awful scene when he wandered outside, as far from earshot as possible, to hear his agent's news: Impossible to fabricate. Someone (or maybe many people) involved in the production have been through that.
I would argue SIDEWAYS as a primer in every good reason not to go into writing.
Having said that, every bit of it, especially Virginia Madsen's phone call at the end, validated everything I've been doing with my life for the last several years.
As a BIG wine drinker from way back, they got all of the details absolutely right. Kistler, Cheval Blanc, the tiresome popularity of forward-fruit Merlots these days.
But that's a minor point.
My original point was:
Every single time Miles checked his messages, every single time Miles called his agent: There was a knife going through my stomach. I'm a writer, and I know exactly how that feels, and I know exactly how it feels to keep telling yourself that no news is good news, even when you know it's already been far too long.
And that awful scene when he wandered outside, as far from earshot as possible, to hear his agent's news: Impossible to fabricate. Someone (or maybe many people) involved in the production have been through that.
I would argue SIDEWAYS as a primer in every good reason not to go into writing.
Having said that, every bit of it, especially Virginia Madsen's phone call at the end, validated everything I've been doing with my life for the last several years.