With Miles having agreed to slip into the house to retrieve Jack’s wallet, it’s 85% certain that he’ll be running out a few minutes later with that big gorilla right behind him.
Obviously Miles should have told Jack to keep the engine running and the driver door open so Miles can hop right in and gun it. But no — as Miles runs out Jack has fallen asleep, the car is shut off and the driver door is closed.
In real life Miles would’ve never been made it, and that big, naked, blue-collar ape would’ve grabbed him and pounded away.
Five years before Sideways opened in ‘04, The Limey’s Terrence Stamp, knowing he’ll be leaving Peter Fonda’s afternoon soirée in a hurry, tells Luis Guzman, behind the wheel of his modest white car, to “keep it runnin’’” and then says “oy!…point it downhill.”
20-plus years ago I came across an out-take of this Sideways scene. A second or two after Miles yanks the door latch and jumps into the driver’s seat, the giant naked ape slams into the car window and it shatters into a thousand shards. A shocked Giamatti yells “whoa!” as he pulls away.
This played better than the version in the finished film — wild, unexpectedly startling, believably chaotic. Director Alexander Payne should have approved it.