OVERLAY REPORT

While *Sideways* (2004) is famously known for its Academy Award-winning screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, the film allowed for specific pockets of improvisation, particularly to enhance the chemistry between the two leads, Paul Giamatti (Miles) and Thomas Haden Church (Jack). The following scenes and sequences involved improvisation or significant ad-libbing: ### 1. Montage and Background Dialogue The shooting script for *Sideways* explicitly labeled many sequences as **"improvised."** According to the film's editor, Kevin Tent, and the published screenplay, whenever the characters are seen talking while music plays or during a montage (such as the wine-tasting tour sequences), the actors were instructed to ad-lib their conversations. * **Specific Detail:** In the scene where voices "waft in and out" as Miles explains wine to Jack, much of the background banter was riffed to create a natural, "documentary-like" feel. ### 2. The "Insane Cheeses" and "Music Whatever" Riff During the double date scene with Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), Thomas Haden Church improvised several of Jack’s desperate attempts to keep the evening going. * **Specific Detail:** When Jack suggests they go back to Stephanie’s place, he lists the amenities they have: *"I’ve got wine, some insane cheeses, music whatever."* Outtakes from the film show Church and Giamatti riffing on different types of food and entertainment ("kooky queso," "a Gilligan jukebox") before landing on the "insane cheeses" line that made the final cut. ### 3. The "Plight" Scene (Delivery and Direction) Thomas Haden Church has noted that director Alexander Payne used a "found" approach for the comedic-yet-tragic scene outside the restaurant where Jack laments his situation. * **Specific Detail:** In the scene where Jack says, *"No one will ever understand my plight,"* Payne did not give Church specific acting beats. Instead, he told him, "Don't tell me everything, just let me find what's happening with you in this moment." While the "plight" line itself was likely in the script, the specific, overly dramatic delivery and the physical business surrounding it were discovered through improvisation during the takes. ### 4. General Ad-libs by Thomas Haden Church Paul Giamatti has stated in multiple interviews that he tended to "toe the line" of the script because it was so well-written, but that Thomas Haden Church was a prolific ad-libber. * **Specific Detail:** Church’s "zingers" and "man-child" reactions—such as his enthusiastic but clueless responses to wine tasting (e.g., *"Tastes good to me!"*)—often involved small ad-libs that Payne kept to emphasize Jack's lack of sophistication compared to Miles' pretension. ### What was NOT improvised: The "Merlot" Line Contrary to popular belief, the film's most famous line—**"I am not drinking any fucking Merlot!"**—was **not** improvised. * **Detail:** It was a key line from Rex Pickett's original novel and was included in every draft of the screenplay. The line served a narrative purpose beyond a simple joke: the wine Miles later drinks from a Styrofoam cup (a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc) is actually a Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend, making his refusal to drink Merlot a deeply ironic character beat regarding his own snobbery and his ex-wife (whose favorite wine was Merlot).