Upside-down

The film "Sideways" that everyone has been raving about finally came to my li'l town and so I figured I would go and see what all the hype was about. I was expecting something funny, something different....something. What I got was a whole lot of nada. There was nothing unique, interesting or even compelling about the film. I left the theater wondering if perhaps I missed a subplot, maybe a scene had been cut out or maybe I was suffering from some strange amnesia. But no. The film reminded me of an episode of 30-Something. Aside from the fact that the story was flat - I had no sympathy for the characters - if anything, I found them to be annoying. I've read reviews about the film and they say that the characters are "real" and "endearing." What? Just because a movie character reminds you of yourself or someone you know does not make them endearing. Familiar perhaps, but not endearing. Just because I may know a depressed, negative, underachiever, I am not going to exalt a film that exposes that person for all he or she may be. The film was nothing special. it was predictiable, full of over-emphasized metaphors and rarely as funny as I had hoped. And whoever it was that was lamenting the fact Paul Giamatti didn't get an Oscar nomination should have their head examined. His performance, though believable, was nothing unique or extraordinary.