Sideways: Novel & Movie

I saw Sideways a few weeks ago based on Randa’s recommendation and fell in love with it. It’s one of those movies where everything seems to go right: story, acting, directing, and everything in between. It’s bloody perfect. Alexander Payne’s movie is based on Rex Pickett’s novel of the same name, and, according to one critic at least, both are equally engaging:

In keeping with the “Sideways” themes of steel-belted friendship, unlikely romance and redemption in the face of psychic pain and sexual humiliation, the book and the screenplay complement each other like the Copper River salmon and the ’96 Comte Armand Pommard that Miles consumes during one riotous meal. Separately, they’re a joy. Blended, they’re a feast.

And, of course, the novel and the movie differ in a few aspects as well. It was interesting to hear, for instance, that the scene in which Miles and Maya talk about themselves using wine as a metaphor (one of my favorite scenes from the movie) was written expressly for the movie.