The road movie is a genuinely curious inclusion to the cinematic canon since it kind of seems to go against a lot of what movies even stand for. They frequently feature large portions of time where people just talk to each other with basic speech instead of highly stylized dialogue and the interior of a car as a setting isn't very cinematic. Although the wide landscape shots that are inherent to the road movie are a cinematographer's dream to photograph it must be quite daunting for a director to try and find inventive ways to frame people talking to each other in a vehicle for the majority of the film. This is why I chose to write this list. I want to celebrate the great filmmakers who have managed to show amazing levels of creativity in depicting their travel themed stories and do justice to some great movies as well.
10. Sideways
Sideways is the defining film of Alexander Payne's extremely underrated career as a director. While he gained much more recognition for his incredible movie The Descendants the style developed in that film is on full display here. The story is simultaneously heartwarming while being hilarious at the same time and the direction is perfectly understated so the performances are allowed to take center stage. Paul Giamatti gives one of his best performances as Miles Raymond and the supporting cast keep the story interesting at every moment. The way that Payne chooses to highlight both the comedy and drama make Sideways a film that feels honest yet uplifting at the same time. Payne has been walking that line for years and he's never done it better than here.