Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Loathsome characters, but amusing in places

After all the attention paid to this movie in the last year, I finally rented "Sideways." As a wine fan and a Californian who is familiar with the Santa Barbara area wineries, I thought I might enjoy it.On some levels, this movie delivers. The cinematography is excellent, and the screenwriters knew their wine. There are parts of this movie that are really funny. But the movie never transcends the loathsome, reprehensible behavior of Miles and Jack, the two characters who are supposed to be our heroes. Their actions near the beginning of this movie do not make them sympathetic. Rather, they are established early on as pathetic middle-aged losers who deserve any and all of the bad things that happen to them. Even though Miles makes a stab at redemption near the end, it's too little, too late. There are some funny moments where we laugh at them, not with them, but then it's time to go back to looking at your watch and waiting for the the movie to end.Avoid.