Trees Lounge (1996)
Tommy has lost his job, his love and his life. He lives in a small apartment above the Trees Lounge, a bar which he frequents along with a few other regulars without lives. He gets a job driving an ice cream truck and ends up getting involved with the seventeen-year-old niece of his ex-girlfriend. This gets him into serious trouble with her father.
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That was an excellent one.
As Good As It Gets
Blistering performances.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
A movie about an alcoholic's everyday life. Watched it randomly on tv, and it's good. It's Buscemi's directorial and writer debut and he did a pretty good job. If you like calm movies or if you like Busemi movies, you should watch it.
Tommy (Steve Buscemi) is an unemployed mechanic who spends most of his time in a bar (Trees Lounge) in a small blue collar town. He seems to always be thinking, "If only X then I could stop drinking".Roger Ebert wrote, "Steve Buscemi, who plays Tommy and also wrote and directed the film, knows about alcoholism from the inside out and backward, and his movie is the most accurate portrait of the daily saloon drinker I have ever seen." Now I don't know if this is the best film about a barfly ever made. I find that rather hard to believe. But I do know that Buscemi is a great actor, a champion of the independent film, and as "Trees Lounge" shows, he is an accomplished writer and director. I am glad to see he is getting the respect he deserves.
After looking forward to seeing this movie directed ,written by and starring one of my favourite actors Steve Buscemi and with a big name cast I was left disappointed . This film tried to be funny and failed miserably at every turn and the story really dragged on at 95 minutes although it felt longer . The characters I couldn't relate to and the relationships between all characters weren't believable . Buscemi has tried to portray himself as the lovable loser and we are meant to laugh at his shortcomings , however I must concede Buscemi is the best character in the film the rest I found irritating .Of course this is merely an opinion and Buscemi fans should give it a watch anyway I just personally never enjoyed it at all .
This semi-biographical tale centres around a down on his luck, yet charismatic bar fly, set on his way to self destruction. Buscemi'second self directed/penned feature is slower paced than some might expect. This in no way detracts from the overall brilliance and charm that trees lounge conveys. Tommy's character, while on the surface, demands both pity and sympathy. It's in his anti-heroic attributes ie. selfishness and callousness, that make the film so human and believable. American releases as passionate and warm as Trees Lounge do not come around as often anymore, with only The Station Agent coming close. So enjoy.