A middle-aged Japanese man travels to California to attend the wedding of his American-based friend. Prior to the big event, they take one last trip to Napa Valley, where they taste wine, dally with romance.
SidewaysA heartwarming tale of two old friends, on a journey to rediscover theirfriendship, life and themselves.Michio (Fumio Kohinata) a struggling, middleaged scriptwriter, who returns tothe US to attend the wedding of his best friend. Daisuke (Katsuhisa Namase), whostayed in the California after college, had a brief stint of fame as Captain Ninja, achildrens action hero now manages a restaurantTogether, they venture out on a weeklong road trip, ending up in the NapaValley, where they serendipitously meet up with an old heart throb Mayuko(Kyoka Suzuki), whom Michio tutored during his exchange student days 20 yearspast, and her free spirited friend Mina (Rinko Kikuchi) raised in America.Michio under the impression that they were going wine tasting, soon discoversthat Daisuke has ulterior motives for this last hurrah as a bachelor. During thisbrief detour from daily life, each on his own discovers what is truly important inlife itself.Filmed entirely on location in California with an allAmerican crew, we bring youthe Japanese reimagination of the 2005 Academy Awardwinning film of thesame title. Sideways is directed by born in Japan American, Cellin Gluck andbeautifully photographed by Garry Waller, Oscar nominated for his visual effectswork on Poltergeist II. Featuring a sound track composed and supervised byHawaiianborn ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro, with such 1980s hits as CyndiLaupers Time After Time.The New York Times calls Sideways one of the most intriguing of cross culturalexperiments.The coming of age movie for those past the point of no return.
