Rated R
Directed by Alexander Payne (About Schmidt)
Starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church
What are critics smoking?
I think critics must be bored. They must be tired of the same ‘ol thing . . . so “novelty” begins to win over good film-making.
Sideways was up for several Oscars.
Why?
Yes, it was a little creative. It even had a few funny scenes. But overall, the film was slow, boring, and, not to mention, raunchy.
If you like wine tasting you might enjoy the film. It’s got some very creative scenes about wine tasters cruising through Napa trying different wines. But this is just a side bar to the main storyline: guy tries to get laid as much as possible the week before his wedding. That, combined with depressing lead characters, plenty of foul language (79 of the “F” word alone), a couple graphic sex scenes, and two of the weirdest full frontal nudity scenes in film history. Have you ever seen a 250 pound biker running at you completely naked?
My word is “skip this one.”
Side Note:
As said above, we recommend you skip this film. But on the occasion that your teen actually has already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
