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Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack
(Thomas Haden Church, who could pose as Huey Lewis’s younger brother) take off on a road
trip through California’s Central Coast wineries a week before Jack is to marry his
gorgeous, filthy rich fiancée.
In a friendship formed years ago as
college freshmen, these two aging baby boomers stretch their companionship toward
precarious limits along the way. Do opposites really attract? Miles, a divorced, frumpy,
middle school English teacher, an anti-depressant-popping writer who’s waiting for word
on his novel (“Three years of my life!”), lives a sort of quiet desperation, as does his
best friend, Jack, who turns out to be an overtly oversexed, definite B-list actor caught
in a time zone of “dudes,” “chicks,” and “let’s get some action.”
As they
drive the California hills, Miles, in his professor-like orange convertible Saab,
educates Jack on the finer points of wines and wine tasting. It turns out that Miles is
more than just a wine connoisseur—he’s a Grand Master who will swiftly point out any
weakness: “Quaffable but far from transcendent.” He knows so much about wine but so
little about women. On the other hand, Jack really couldn’t care less. His constant zest
for female action and his positive outlook on life play against Miles’s determined
seriousness. Both are unwittingly looking for something, and they both meet women: two
beauties, who—major Hollywood surprise—seem to be about their own age and who just happen
to know each other. Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh) and Miles and Jack
seem to form a happy pseudo-four-some until something happens. That “something” changes
the course of their four lives…or does it?
While I didn’t find the movie
all that comedic (although the line “Did you drink and dial?” really is funny),
and I found the pace a bit slow to my liking, director Alexander Payne (Election,
Schmidt) put his MFA in filmmaking talents to good use, wisely choosing both
producer Michael London (House of Sand and Fog, Thirteen) and a decent
novel by Rex Pickett to work with. The writing and dialogue are realistic, and using
California wineries as a backdrop was an excellent idea.
REPORT CARD:
B-
One final note: complete frontal nudity and explicit sex scenes no
longer require an X rating. I would not recommend this to teenagers—even if you go with
an adult.
