The drudgery of everyday existence gets another gentle tweaking at the hands of writer-director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt). A priceless Paul Giamatti plays a neurotic English teacher and would-be novelist who takes his mismatched best friend (Thomas Haden Church) on a trip to California wine country to celebrate the friend’s impending marriage – a journey that unintentionally throws both men into full-fledged midlife crises. Bittersweet from beginning to end, this is as unflinching as comedy gets.
