'The Napa Boys' Review: An Absurd Movie That Dares to Ask, “What If 'Sideways' Had a Bunch of Terrible Sequels?”

9 hours ago 6

Published Feb 27, 2026, 12:20 PM EST

Ross Bonaime is the Senior Film Editor at Collider. He is a Virginia-based critic, writer, and editor who has written about all forms of entertainment for Paste Magazine, Brightest Young Things, Flickchart, The Free Lance-Star, and more. Ross graduated from George Mason University with a focus in communications and journalism and a minor in film and video studies.

Ross is a Tomatometer-approved critic, a member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, and a member of the Critics Choice Association. He has loved movies ever since he saw Cinderella in the theater as a kid, he can quote 10 Things I Hate About You and Wet Hot American Summer from memory, and is fascinated by all things Georges Méliès and Charlie Chaplin.

The Napa Boys, the absurd comedy by director Nick Corirossi, dares to ask the question: “What if Alexander Payne’s Oscar-winning film Sideways from 2004 had multiple ridiculous sequels that essentially turned that story into an American Pie-style comedy?” The Napa Boys, written by Corirossi and Armen Weitzman, is a ludicrous concept that quickly throws you into its style of comedy and doesn’t hold your hand.

The Napa Boys Are Back on Another Crazy Napa Boys Adventure!

Miles Jr. (Weitzman) is a comic book writer who has a series called The Napa Boys, which he claims isn’t based on any of his real adventures in the world of wine country. However, with the arrival of Jack Jr. (Corirossi), showing up in his Wine Wagon, with a license plate that states “IH8MRLT,” it becomes clear that The Napa Boys are back, and ready to go on yet another crazy adventure, full of wine and friends!

Miles Jr. is still mourning the death of his wife and daughter, but Jack Jr. is more interested on cheating on his wife, partying, and having a good time on their trip to the Great Grape Festival. Along the way, they pick up their friend, Stifler’s Brother (Jamar Malachi Neighbors), assist their friend Mitch (Mike Mitchell) in trying to win the wine competition at the festival to save his winery, and are joined by Napa Boys superfan and up-and-coming journalist, Puck (Sarah Ramos) to see if the legends about the boys are true. They’ll also have to face their slimy enemy, Squirm (Paul Rust), win over the judge of the wine festival, Wilbur Winejudge (David Wain), and maybe, just maybe, find love?

Ash Williams with a metal hand in Army of Darkness

In case you don’t remember a wine-focused comedy from 22 years ago, the names Miles Jr. and Jack Jr. imply that these characters are the kids of Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church from Sideways. That’s just the beginning of The Napa Boys leaning into the idea that this is a franchise in a world of too many franchises. As you might have put together, there’s no connection to the character “Stifler’s Brother” and the American Pie franchise, yet the movie does lean into the idea that this can also be the kind of gross-out comedy where a Stifler-like character could appear (an inciting incident leads to a batch of wine being filled with two different types of bodily fluid).

There are hints of a female-led Napa Boys spin-off, a younger generation that could replace the good ol' Napa Boys, and hell, Jay and Silent Bob make an appearance to talk about franchises. Considering how many cinematic universes and sequels have inundated movies lately, it is pretty great that The Napa Boys simply parodies the ideas of these things, all through the guise of a Sideways Cinematic Universe.

Listen, 'The Napa Boys' Isn't for Everyone

Regardless of how funny this might sound, The Napa Boys still isn’t going to be a comedy for everyone. Corirossi and Weitzman’s sense of humor often leans into the idea that if a joke at first succeeds, try and try it again until it runs into the ground, to the point that it gets funny again. For example, everyone seems to greet The Napa Boys with the exclamatory, “The Napa Boys are back!,” to the point that it maybe comprises a fourth of all the film’s dialogue. Often, the jokes here can feel like you’re an outsider listening in on an inside joke, laughing along until you’re brought into the mix. The Napa Boys is throwing out jokes left and right, but for many, only a few of them are going to hit — but when they do, they hit hard.

Which is par for the course when it comes to the humor of Nick Corirossi, who might be best known for his work on Funny or Die, where he wrote and directed the popular Don Cheadle Is Captain Planet shorts, as well as for directing the 2018 horror comedy, Deep Murder. But maybe the best encapsulation of Corirossi’s sense of humor comes in his character, Bug Mane, a strange cult leader/musician who’s probably best known for being a divisive guest on comedy podcasts like Doughboys and Podcast: The Ride. Bug Mane has become such a divisive character that Podcast: The Ride once held audience polls for almost half a year about whether Bug Mane should return as a guest — a decision that hilariously split the audience. Corirossi likes to go big and over-the-top, and it can absolutely be abrasive sometimes. The same is often true within The Napa Boys, yet it’s maybe the most successful version of Corirossi’s style of comedy.

Corirossi also gets to be ridiculous and gross in The Napa Boys, standing out as Jack Jr., especially next to Miles Jr., who is played with extreme awkwardness. Weitzman is equally great in this co-lead position, almost as though the Giamatti character in Sideways had almost become even more insular and isolating. At times, it’s almost as though he’s breaking the fourth wall, and the other characters are simply annoyed by how irritating he’s being. But this duo, both as completely polar opposites of extremes, makes this concept work.

There’s no question that The Napa Boys isn’t a comedy for everyone. Again, this is a fake pseudo-sequel to Sideways with an extremely unusual sense of humor. This is the type of comedy for people who will get pumped about a Paul Rust or Mike Mitchell cameo (so basically, comedy podcast fans), and who embrace anti-comedy in its highest form. But it’s also great that The Napa Boys exists, a niche idea for a niche audience that is hilarious for that core group. It’s the type of comedy we rarely get anymore, and is the type that would’ve found its audience over a surprisingly-long release in theaters, followed by reruns on Comedy Central. Honestly, thank God The Napa Boys are back!

The Napa Boys is now playing in theaters.