Home > Movies > Movie Review > Romance & Cigarettes

Romance & Cigarettes

James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet sing their hearts out in this quirky delight

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
December 21, 2007

Critic's Rating:

• Email
• Print View
• Share
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Google
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • Mister Wong
  • Yahoo Buzz
  • Yahoo
• Add To Favorites
• Add to playlist

Blue collar New Yorker Nick (James Gandolfini) is cheating on his still-beautiful wife Kitty (Susan Sarandon) with the vivacious Tula (Kate Winslet). All hell breaks loose when Kitty finds a provocative note Nick wrote to his mistress. But it turns out to be just the wake-up call Nick needs to realize how much his family—including his three daughters (Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker and Aida Turturro)—means to him. Oh, and by the way, the movie is a musical.

Big question: Is “Romance & Cigarettes” actually worth the long, difficult struggle (and self-distributed release) writer-director John Turturro endured to get it to the screen?

Catch it: The moment Gandolfini bursts out into a rendition of “Lonely is a Man Without Love” you know you’re in for a wild ride. And Turturro’s loopy, energetic, surprisingly raunchy vision doesn’t disappoint. Sarandon hasn’t had a role this good in years (literally—“Romance & Cigarettes” was filmed in 2004) and Winslet sets the screen ablaze as the fiery foul-mouthed red-head with a killer body. The rest of the all-aces cast includes Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard, Amy Sedaris, Tony winners Elaine Stritch, Tonya Pinkins and Cady Huffman, and a scene-stealing Bobby Cannavale.

Skip it: If you’re adamantly opposed to seeing Winslet perform a salsa number. Your loss.

Bottom line: The aggressive quirkiness in all aspects of the production sometimes goes too far and the downbeat third act is a bit of a buzzkill, but Turturro has crafted a truly unique American musical worthy of the Coen brothers' executive producer credits. At its best, even the filthy dialogue sounds like music.

Bonus: Pause for a moment to consider the implications of Cannavale's line to girlfriend Moore: "I wanna make out with your whole family baby." Yikes.

You will be prompted to register or log in when posting.

Comment

Please note that by clicking on "Post Comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service. Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.