Trailer
Plot summary
Miles Raymond teaches school in San Diego and has written a novel that no publisher has taken. His friend Jack Cole, a television actor, is days away from his wedding, and the two drive into the Santa Barbara County wine country for a week before the ceremony. Miles, who knows wine well, wants to relax over good food and drink, while Jack, uneasy about marrying and about giving up acting for a job with his future father-in-law, wants a last fling. In the Santa Ynez valley, Miles meets Maya, a waitress he knows slightly, and Jack meets Stephanie, a wine pourer.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Sideways (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In the film Miles speaks fondly of Pinot noir while denigrating Merlot; after the October 2004 US release, Merlot sales dropped 2% while Pinot noir sales increased 16% in the Western United States, and a similar trend occurred in British wine outlets.
- A 2022 study in the Journal of Wine Economics found the film cut demand for Merlot and raised it for Pinot noir, leading California winemakers to grow Pinot noir on unsuitable land and blend it with grapes from high-quality areas to meet demand, which may have led to worse wines.
- As of 2022, Payne and Taylor are the only screenwriters ever to sweep the rarest achievement known as "The Big Four" critics awards - LAFCA, NBR, NYFCC and NSFC - on top of winning the Oscar, Globe, BAFTA, WGA and Critic's Choice Awards for the film.
- A Japanese-language remake, also titled Sideways, was released in October 2009 by Fox International Productions and Fuji Television and directed by Cellin Gluck; it shifts the setting to Napa Valley, and although Payne is listed as an executive producer he was not involved, but gave it his blessing.
