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Wine is elusive; produced with great skill, and fortuitous circumstances of climate and soil, luck is frequently involved. It evolves in the bottle, changing character as it's transformed by hidden chemical interactions. Some wine must be drunk young; some must be put up to mature. Wait too long and the wine self-destructs; wait too little and the wine will disappoint. It evolves on the tongue and in the nose, flavors and aromas initially not apparent blossom after you've swallowed. The true enthusiast must have both discriminating senses and a fine memory. Based on personal experiences and the recommendations of others, selective combinations of varietals, vintners, and vintages from among thousands must be scrupulously memorized to differentiate the superior from the mundane. Are you still awake?
Conceptually, making a film about a one-week road trip through California wine country punctuated with a connoisseur's unbidden lecturing on the pleasures of wine to an unsophisticated companion risked becoming a great snore. But in the skillful hands of director Alexander Payne, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jim Taylor, based in the novel by Rex Pickett, wine becomes a metaphor of life and the film becomes the most satisfying comedic drama of 2004.
Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) are old friends, college roommates. Jack is about to marry and rather than throw a conventional bachelor party, Miles - the best man - decides to introduce Jack to the wonders of wine and the intricacies of a few fine golf courses. They pile into Miles' Saab convertible and head north, and it soon becomes clear that these are two very different people.
Miles, is a junior high school English teacher and frustrated writer, desperate for his novel to succeed. Publishers' resistance does not help his state of mind. He's in a perpetual funk, clinically depressed from a failed marriage the year before. Anti-depressants don't seem to be helping. He may be an oenophile, but he takes entirely too much solace in the bottle. Jack is a struggling actor, reduced to doing voiceovers in commercials. He's an outgoing, unrepentant charmer intent upon sampling the women of wine country no less than Miles intends to sample the wine. Jack believes that getting Miles laid is the best medicine for his ailments. These diametric opposites are illuminated by another metaphor that runs through the film: dark and light. Miles mood is dark, and it's reflected in his clothing, his choice of cake, and in his choice of wines. Jack is light. This is going to be a bumpy ride.
They settle in at an inn and begin their explorations, ultimately hooking up - at Jack's insistence - with a waitress, Maya (Virginia Madsen), and Stephanie (Sandra Oh) a server from a local winery. The women are wine enthusiasts as well. Maya is even working her way through graduate school, hoping to earn a Masters in horticulture. For Jack and Stephanie, it's lust at first sight. For Miles and Maya there is a reassuring familiarity. They had been acquaintances for some time; she works in his favorite restaurant. It's clear that they are attracted to one another, but his reluctance to lower his emotional shields is an impediment.
There is a pivotal scene in which Miles and Maya are sitting on Stephanie's porch as Jack and Stephanie noisily make love in the bedroom. They ostensibly talk about wine and ask each other how their enthusiasms began. As Miles explains his almost fanatical preference for the Pinot Noir varietal, it becomes clear that as he describes the grape's fragile and temperamental nature, he's talking about himself. Maya responds first with her eyes; we can see her heart melting for a man who needs rescuing so desperately. She talks about her embracing an emotional relationship with wine, and it becomes clear that she's talking about both life and the potential of their relationship. It becomes a plea for Miles to abandon his thinly disguised despair and return to the land of the living. Lovely dialog.
This is a genuinely funny film. The writing is smart, the people facile and articulate. Thomas Haden Church and Paul Giamatti delivery wonderfully droll performances. Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh ground the film. Neither character is comedic, nor do they act as straight-men to the male leads. They provide a dramatic core against which the actors are contrasted. This synergistic blend becomes unexpectedly emotionally satisfying. Even with some brief slapstick and Miles' acting out while under the influence, this is delicate film that gratifies.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. The compression work for this Fox release was not performed by the Digital Video Compression Center and the results are a tad disappointing. The transfer is slightly soft and marred by modest edge halos. Small object detail remains quite reasonable, but fine textures are somewhat suppressed. Color accuracy is quite good based on very natural skin tones. Shadow detail is also quite nice. I didn't notice any macroblocking or mosquito noise. The film contains some of the loveliest images of California vineyards I can recall; it's a shame that the transfer doesn't do justice to them.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is quite nice. It is predominantly front centric. This is, after all, a dialog driven film. The surrounds occasionally kick in with a few ambient or environmental sounds. Deep bass is neither present nor missed. Sound effects simply serve the images. The jazzy score by Rolfe Kent is delightful and pleasantly conveyed with a dry recording that enhances the illusion of presence. The dialog is distortion-free throughout.
The alternate languages are in French and Spanish, each presented in Dolby Surround 2.0. Optional subtitles are in French, Spanish, and English, for which Closed Captions are also included.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The disc opens with a slick anti-piracy promo that, thankfully, may be skipped with the next chapter button. Next is a preprogrammed Fox Searchlight promo for upcoming or already released DVDs (1:48). This, too, may be skipped.
Moving on to the real supplements . . . There are seven deleted scenes (17:12) introduced with text screens. With a theatrical running time of 127 minutes (it didn't seem that long, which speaks well of the film), I think you can appreciate the need for a bit of trimming. None of these cuts seem essential to the film or to its story arcs, but they are interesting as exhibits of how a film evolves from first cut to theatrical.
The full screen Behind The Scenes Featurette runs only 6:35, but the players and filmmakers did manage to find the time for some mutual backslapping. This is pure fluff composed predominantly by descriptions of the plot and the nature of the characters, punctuated with excerpts from the film. The film's theatrical trailer (2:27) is also included on the disc.
The highlight of the supplements has to be the bright and breezy commentary with Thomas Haden Church and Paul Giamatti. They spend more time trying to amuse one another than discussing the film and their fun is infectious. I was impressed with Thomas Haden Church's intelligence and vocabulary; most memorable as the somewhat dim aircraft mechanic on the television series Wings, there are hidden depths there. The pair does reveal details about the shoot and offer behind the scenes anecdotes that are informative and entertaining. Each man seems so comfortable with the commentary process, I couldn't help but wonder if a bit of wine lubricated the session.
The 127-minute film is organized into thirty-two chapters.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
This is a delightful film that deserved every one of its seven Golden Globe nominations (won for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay - Motion Picture) and its five Oscar nominations (won for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published). The transfer could have been better, the audio is perfectly fine, and commentary alone would have made the supplements a standout. Highly recommended.
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