Romance & Cigarettes (2007)

The Worst Film Ever

Thanks for the memories!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Romance And Cigarettes is the strangest musical you've never heard of. Strange as in awkward, because most of the songs are just too overdone and absurd to work, but I'll concede that that very quality makes them unforgettable, if for not quite the same reasons the filmmakers intended. Going for a sort of pseudo Jersey Boys look, they set their cluster of stories in working class New York City, focusing on a number of hot blooded Italian American scamps and the mischief they get up to, all set to a raucous medley of musical numbers, some pleasant and others pretty darn tone deaf. James Gandolfini plays Nick Murder, a rowdy blue collar construction worker who finds himself between a rock and a hard place when his long suffering wife Kitty (an even rowdier Susan Sarandon) finds out about his secret mistress Tula (kinky Kate Winslet). This seems to be the last straw for Kitty as far as their marriage goes, and it all erupts into a series of volcanic confrontations and spats as only New Yorkers can spectacularly stage. In Kitty's corner are her three handful daughter's (Aida Turturro, Mary Louise Parker and adorable Mandy Moore) and her helpful Cousin Bo (Christopher Walken). Nick turns to a co worker Angelo (Steve Buscemi), is scolded by his stern mother (Elaine Stritch) and receives advice from an ex military tough guy (Bobby Cannavle). The film sides with both parties for one long and often chaotic look at marriage, infidelity and extremely short tempers, peppered with songs that, like I said before, are hit and miss. Walken has the best bit (doesn't he always?) when he gets to a rip roaring riff on Tom Jones's 'Delilah' that jazzes up the film quite a bit. Not destined to go down in history as one of the best musicals ever made, but worth it for the spoofy fun had by the impressive cast.

I was looking forward to this film with its great cast and the quirky lip synching song sequences. Instead it was the crudest and most horrible dialogue of any film I have seen and this spoilt the enjoyment. The song sequences were good but could have been better. Not in the same league as Pennies from Heaven. Does this screenwriter have a problem with women that he could be so crude about them in male conversations. I wondered whether Kate Winslett, with a strange northern accent wondered why she had agreed to it when she was given the script. Goodness knows what Eddie Izzard was doing in it. Shame that the writer/director was given the chance to be so self indulgent.

This film is about a wife who discovers that his husband has a mistress. She sets out to find her."Romance & Cigarettes" is not a comedy and is not a musical. It is just a confusing mess. The plot is all over the place, and the story telling is abysmally poor that most subplots are poorly explained and poorly connected to each other. The so called musical part involves actors miming to old songs that are clearly not written especially for this film. The dances accompanying the music lack vibrancy and energy to set the screen alight. The street fight scene is so over the top. The constant screaming is so noisy and hysterical.There are a few notably beautiful scenes, such as Kate Winslet singing underwater, but the scene is so out of place in the first place. Would someone who is thrown into the water sing gracefully under water?

John Turturro wrote and directed this personal labor of love about a working class Brooklyn couple who are facing the marriage crisis all wives dread: the husband's infidelity. What starts out as a fun, joyous musical, which is really unique, turns rather conventional in its last half hour. But before that, the film is loads of fun with inventive musical numbers utilizing pop songs to tell the story of James Gandolfini, a construction worker, who can't control his fetish for the voluptuous red-head Kate Winslet. It's the classic Madonna/whore situation for Gandolfini facing a late mid-life crisis. Several actors appear in brief standout roles: Kate Winslet as the lingerie salesgirl with the voluptuous curves; Steve Buscemi as Gandolfini's construction buddy with a Neanderthal outlook on women; Aida Turturro as one of Gandolfini's daughters; Christopher Walken as cousin Bo, a would-be hit man with an Elvis fixation; Elaine Stritch as Gandolfini's mother full of regrets about her own past. All of them are very funny and very good at the same time. Susan Sarandon is also pretty good as Gandolfini's long suffering wife. Mary-Louise Parker and Mandy Moore as the other daughters have little to do. Guys will no doubt like this a lot more than women will. The film's conclusion seems to indicate the Madonna/whore dilemma will still remain no matter how much men mess up their marriages. It's an entertaining film that peters out once Gandolfini gets sick. The songs used are perfect choices in most instances. *** of 4 stars.