Saturday, April 09, 2005

My Sideways Opinion

I went to Cincinnati Thursday. I had plans to go see "Little Shop of Horrors" (more on that later), but got to town early and finished some errands with time to spare, so I decided to go see a movie until time for Sandy to get off work. There's one of those "dollar-saver" second-run cinemas near her house, so I went to see "Sideways", since I'd been hearing so much about it and was curious. I've just got to say, I don't see what all the fuss is about. To be fair, the acting is good. Maybe even excellent. So I can see people praising the performances. But the movie itself? I would describe it as "odd and depressing, with occasional bursts of mostly-dark comedy". I actually laughed out loud in a couple of places, but most of it made me feel sad. And I hated the ending. The movie seemed too long to me (I kept finding myself checking my watch during the last hour), and yet I wish they'd made it a little longer because it seemed to me that the story ended about one minute too soon! I won't say why in case anyone is reading this who hasn't seen it yet. I was left sitting there saying "uuuhh....that's it?....that's the end?" and I heard a woman not far from me turn to her companion and ask that very thing. So if you're reading this, and you loved "Sideways", maybe you can explain to me why. What am I missing?? Because there must be something there I just didn't get. And if you can explain the ending to me, I'd love that. And speaking of ambiguous endings, can anyone explain the ending of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" to me? I'd be ever-so grateful. Thanks.