Plot

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.

Sideways A heartwarming tale of two old friends, on a journey to rediscover their friendship, life and themselves. Michio (Fumio Kohinata) a struggling, middleaged scriptwriter, who returns to the US to attend the wedding of his best friend. Daisuke (Katsuhisa Namase), who stayed in the California after college, had a brief stint of fame as Captain Ninja, a childrens action hero now manages a restaurant Together, they venture out on a weeklong road trip, ending up in the Napa Valley, where they serendipitously meet up with an old heart throb Mayuko (Kyoka Suzuki), whom Michio tutored during his exchange student days 20 years past, and her free spirited friend Mina (Rinko Kikuchi) raised in America. Michio under the impression that they were going wine tasting, soon discovers that Daisuke has ulterior motives for this last hurrah as a bachelor. During this brief detour from daily life, each on his own discovers what is truly important in life itself. Filmed entirely on location in California with an allAmerican crew, we bring you the Japanese reimagination of the 2005 Academy Awardwinning film of the same title. Sideways is directed by born in Japan American, Cellin Gluck and beautifully photographed by Garry Waller, Oscar nominated for his visual effects work on Poltergeist II. Featuring a sound track composed and supervised by Hawaiianborn ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro, with such 1980s hits as Cyndi Laupers Time After Time. The New York Times calls Sideways one of the most intriguing of cross cultural experiments. The coming of age movie for those past the point of no return.