I'm sure I'm not the only one who observes this, but this feels like a ripoff of Sideways. Ironically, the story is about a failed author whose angry about another writer beating him to the punch in putting out a bestseller which is precisely what happened here. Even if this had come out first, I still think Sideways would be better. This film makes me want to watch Sideways again. I wonder if it is a ripoff, or just an awful coincidence that the two are so similar but this one is inferior. Let's start with what made Sideways so much better:
The star of Sideways was the California wine experience that could have been written by the tourism board. All the drama the characters were going through revolved around the charm of the Northern California wine tasting experience. The characters and their backstories remained charming by remaining in the background. The subtle twists and turns of the story were delivered with an element of surprise that made it a thoughtful, adult film that despite not being an action film, didn't bore. The moments of sadness when Miles goes into a whiny depression are immediately offset by the beauty of the scenery and on-screen wine, or should I say, "whine" binges. Like Miles, we could drown our sorrows in some fermented grape juice even if vicariously.
In the case of Discoverers, the Americana charm of re-enactments, which deserves a fine documentary or movie storytale is sadly shoved in the background for the father-son-reconciliation, sullen teenage politically correct daughter, and formulaic romance. Similar elements were in Sideways but being more subtly addressed and centering around the characters' mutual appreciation of wine and nature, generated a holistic binding between the characters and the scenery.
There are neat parallels between where the character of Lewis loses his temper over his failed novel in a store and in Sideways where Miles loses his mind during a wine tasting after finding out about his novel. It's hard to put my finger on it, but one feels robotic while the other is engaging. Perhaps with some fine tuning of the writing, directing, and acting it could have worked. That's the tragedy of it. I think if the Nell and Patti characters had remained in re-enactment character and drawn us into that universe, it could have been a surprise hit and Sideways would look second best in comparison.
I watched more of this film than I liked because of Cara Buono, Madeleine Martin, and Ann Dowd who are knockouts. If they're in a re-enactment, I'm GOING!
Bottom line: If you haven't seen Sideways, perhaps watch this and then watch Sideways and you'll like it even more. Perhaps you'll even like this one too in seeing what could have been.
