*** 1/2 (3.5 stars)

Directed by Alexander Payne

Written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

Starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh

Quietly, without fanfare, Alexander Payne appears to have replaced Woody Allen as American film’s premier observer of middle-aged angst. (Let us not shed any tears for Mr. Allen, who has several masterpieces under his belt and is no doubt sick of hearing about how he “peaked” years ago.) Payne’s first three features – Citizen Ruth, Election and About Schmidt – co-authored with Jim Taylor, demonstrated a remarkable flair for empathetic stories and sharply drawn characters. The low-key, immensely pleasurable Sideways continues the team’s unbroken winning streak. (We’ll forgive them for Jurassic Park III, which clearly was written for the paycheck.)

Jack (goofy Thomas Haden Church, from George of the Jungle and the sitcom “Wings”), a faded TV actor, is about to get hitched. As part of his “last week of freedom,” he and his good buddy, wine connoisseur and depressed aspiring novelist Miles (Paul Giamatti, the ultimate Everyman), embark upon a trip to Northern California’s wine country, where they plan to eat good food, quaff fine wines, and play golf (badly). Jack doesn’t say so upfront, but he also wants to get them both laid. Enter Maya (a luminous Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (wonderful Sandra Oh, Payne’s real-life wife), attractive singles who take the boys up on their offer to hang out for a few days, unaware that Jack’s wedding is just days away – a bit of information Miles lets slip during a picnic with Maya.

In less capable, mature hands, Sideways might have been just another whacky, “guys-sowing-their-wild-oats-before-the-wedding” comedy aimed at aging bachelors (like we need another of those). But Payne and Taylor, working from Rex Pickett’s novel of the same name, have something smarter and more celebratory in mind: one man learns the true meaning of commitment, while the other discovers he may not be the perennial loser he’s convinced he is. (Church and Giamatti, both terrific, make a memorable team.) Life, the filmmakers remind us (in one of many parallels to wine), is sometimes bitter, other times sweet (like the movie itself); maybe now is the time to uncork that prized ’61 vintage you’ve been saving for a special occasion. (Hillcrest Cinemas, La Jolla Village Cinemas)

** (2 stars)

Directed by Jonathan Glazer

Written by Jonathan Glazer, Jean-Claude Carriere and Milo Addica

Starring Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Lauren Bacall

Even after 10 years, Anna (Nicole Kidman, sporting a cute pixie cut) can’t seem to get her late husband, Sean, out of her mind. Just when she’s settled into the idea of getting remarried (to beau Joseph, played by Danny Huston), a 10-year-old boy, also named Sean (Cameron Bright), shows up at her mother’s birthday party and calmly announces he is the reincarnated spirit of the man she once loved. Such is the tantalizing premise of Jonathan Glazer’s provocative but bungled sophomore effort, Birth, the brainchild of Glazer (who debuted with the electrifying Sexy Beast), Jean-Claude Carriere and Milo Addica (Monster’s Ball).

While Anna initially dismisses the child’s claims (she’ll be making “a very big mistake” if she ties the knot with Joseph), gradually she comes to accept them as true; she intends to run away with the junior Sean and wait 11 years so they can marry (re-marry?). Is young Sean a disturbed child in need of attention? Is Anna having some sort of mental breakdown fueled by her extended period of mourning? Wildest of all, could Sean be telling the truth? Inexplicably, none of these angles are explored (at least in any depth), which gives the elegantly shot and acted film a crippling identity crisis. (It’s never a good sign when a script goes through 21 revisions and the completed footage takes a year to edit.)

What was Glazer attempting to pull off here? He could have gone in any number of interesting directions (for instance, by blending Kubrick’s Lolita with Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense) and made a movie to be talked about (beyond the controversial bathtub scene, I mean). Instead, it falls into that black hole between character study and psychological creepy thriller, without being successful on either level. Birth (a lousy title) is an enticing idea left at the altar by not one but three clueless screenwriters. (playing citywide)

* 1/2 (1.5 stars)

Directed by David Gordon Green

Written by David Gordon Green and Joe Conway

Starring Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney

If ever a performer made a bad movie bearable, it is Jamie Bell in David Gordon Green’s plodding third feature, Undertow. As a troubled teen living under the thumb of a cold, disciplinarian father, the scrappy young Brit (who actually suckles a cow in one scene) holds your interest long after you’ve written off this shrill tale of toxic sibling rivalry.

The opening titles (complete with tacky freeze frames) set the tone for Green and co-writer Joe Conway’s ‘70s, B-movie-style melodrama. Chris (Bell) lives on a farm in rural Georgia with his dad, John (Dermot Mulroney), and sickly little brother, Tim (Devon Alan). It’s something of an event for the isolated family when John’s brother, the oily-haired, be-dimpled Deel (Josh Lucas) shows up, fresh out of prison. (He may as well have “Raw Deel” emblazoned on his forehead.) Before you can say “pass the cornbread,” Deel and John are locking horns over ex-girlfriends and the valuable coin collection left behind by their late father. Chris and Tim (who, for reasons unexplained, eats paint) are forced to go on the run, their seething, psychopathic uncle just steps behind them. (“I miss dad and the hogs,” Chris says with a straight face at one juncture.)

If Green has a talent, it is for atmosphere and local color – he uses actors, especially those of the amateur variety, most effectively. Whereas that made All the Real Girls worth watching (I walked out on his debut film, George Washington), this time around he is done in by his stock, overheated script, which is only partially redeemed by the talented Bell, whose Southern accent is remarkably convincing. Hard to believe this is the same lad who just four years ago stole hearts as dancin’ fool Billy Elliot. (Hillcrest Cinemas)

Kyle Counts is the film critic for the Gay & Lesbian Times