Sideways is one of my favorite movies of the year, despite the fact that I keep thinking of reasons why I don’t like it.

In this buddy comedy, Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) are both middle age bums who are dealing with a sort of mid-life crisis. Miles is recently divorced, depressed and failing to get a novel published. Jack is getting married in a week, but fears it, and wants to live the coming week in indulgence. Off they go to forget their problems for a week and soak up the southern California sun while they sample wines from vineyards across the country. Except that they don’t forget their problems – they come face to face with them.

What follows is a tale of growing up that doesn’t really grow up. Their problems are quite realistically depicted – they both feel they have nothing to show for their lives and are insecure with who they have become. And with good reason, the truth doesn’t appear to be otherwise. But while the problems are wonderfully, realistically, and tactfully approached, the solutions fall short. Jack never really grows up – he only seems upset that his affair with Stephanie (Sandra Oh) ended in her bashing in his head. We get a little more out of Miles, who seems to come to terms with himself and an ending that’s peaceful enough.

I think my problem with Sideways is that it could have been really fantastic. The film’s approach could have produced a really powerful story that could have been a classic. It falls short, it would seem, because director Alexander Payne doesn’t want to give us easy answers – which is fine, he doesn’t present easy questions. But the film’s buildup is so strong that its finale is anticlimactic. It’s not bad, it’s just not great.

With the warm pictures of golden vistas and vineyards, the story of a depressed man who finds love is strikingly reminiscent of Under the Tuscan Sun – and the film falls dangerously close to becoming a male version of the film.

Fortunately, it doesn’t. It doesn’t, first of all, because of the remarkably stark depiction of life and its vivid portrayal of the most common sequences. Miles first date with Maya (Virginia Madsen), for example, is unlike any other date I’ve seen on film. It’s utterly genuine – to the point of gut-wrenching awkwardness. To the credit of the script, director and actors, you sense every little bit of both characters discomfort with the situation as well their sincere attraction towards each other all the while. It’s absolutely extraordinary. While every word either one utters is wholly absorbing, it becomes especially enthralling when they start talking about wine – knowingly or not – as a metaphor for their own lives.

Sideways also stands out in that it’s honestly one of the funniest films of the years. There’s some simplistic humor – like when Miles sip and savors the wine while Jack downs it – and some quasi slapstick humor – like when Miles dumps a wine dumping bin on his head, but it also includes some real, gritty, down to earth humor – like when Miles attempts to keep up in conversation with Maya.

Sideways is as good a road trip as any. Though it seems that Miles and Jack fail to make any real progress on their round trip journey, at least they come back standing up straight.