Romance & Cigarettes
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Movie Reviews of Romance & Cigarettes
Movie Review: Best cast ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival,very enjoyable. The entire cast is outstanding. I don't know why this film didn't get better distribution, it is a 4 star film. Kate Winslet's performance is top knotch.Movie Review: Great movie!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Just a whole lot of fun! Characters are great, music and dancing are fanciful, funny lines and family dynamics, and even some touching moments. Couldn't ask for anything better!Movie Review: Hot Hot Hot
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie. So funny throughout, but such a poingant ending. I highly recommend this film.Movie Review: "Love Stinks"
Summary: 4 Stars
It's hard to describe `Romance and Cigarettes' without sounding weird or schmaltzy, but it's a rock solid romantic comedy that's driven by its offbeat dialogue and characters. Produced by the Coen Brothers, but directed and written by veteran actor John Turturro, the film still feels like a Coen Brothers' venture if they made musical comedies, which, partly, they do.
To give you a flavor of the movie, it starts off with Constance Murder (Mary-Louise Parker) walking up to her unfaithful father, Nick (James Gandolfini, 'The Sopranos') who's asleep on the couch in their modest NY suburban home, snoring away like a slow moving saw. Her arms are akimbo and her face sports disapproval, yet she seems to show compassion as the mounting evidence comes in for yet another mistress and another affair, which is written all over her face. She walks up to him and puts her lit cigarette between his toes. She walks out of the room, and after a pregnant pause, we hear him yell out in pain.
His daughters are on mom, (Susan Sarandon) Katie Murder's side, so she's really wronged in a one-sided way. She wears her anguish on her sleeve and in song (as she reconnects with her local Catholic church choir.) One of the best scenes is when they wiggle and grind through a steamy rendition of "Take Another Piece of My Heart". (You know, the one Janis Joplin made so famous). One of her daughters has all the looks she may have lost, is in a rock band, and is steady with her dancer boyfriend (Duck-tail flamboyant Bobby Cannavale) who also co-fronts the band.
On his way to work, Nick sings along with the soundtrack, so his voice absurdly blends in Karaoke style with Engelbert Humperdinck's "A Man Without Love" in a lavishly choreographed neighborhood scene. The juxtaposition of fantasy with mundane reality must be a Hollywood trend, for I kept thinking of `Across the Universe' here or `Enchanted' and `Hairspray'. Yet, it would be unfair for me to keep those connections too strong here, for I felt like I was watching something uniquely sublime and daffy.
There isn't really much of plot, per se, except for the ramifications of his British adulterous interest (Kate Winslet), but the character study is enough to keep the pages turning. Nick is able to confide with fellow hardhat Angelo (Steve Buscemi) whose lecherous confessions on the job are both grim and practical, and Katie relies on her quirky cousin (Christopher Walken) to boost her spirits and keep her sense of purpose in life.
Much like the aforementioned films, `Romance and Cigarettes' uses musical comedy to rise about the dingy skylines and heart rending realities with some fun fantasies that both escape one's lot in life and process the wounds. I'd say after all is said and done, this is a fun and colorful film that is a real pleasure to watch.
(Happy belated Valentine's Day!)
Movie Review: Goofballs getting at each other
Summary: 4 Stars
Film by John Turturro that is part musical, part comedy with most fantastically assembled cast one can come up with. Set in New Jersey-like area, this is a story of a working class family with three adult daughters at the moemnt that the husband and father or the family (James Gandolfini) is caught cheating on his wife (Susan Sarandon). The rage that transpires from his wife, is like a virus that catches on to all his daughters and even his own mother.
However, it is Kate Winslet who steals the show. She is the seductress that prefers emotionally unavailble men and they turn her on for as long as they are not in love with her. Once they do fall in love, the affair is over. Winslet has so much fun in this movie that it is hillarious to listen to her speak with ehr British accent, make love (to Gandolfini's character) and get into a cat fight with no ther woman ut Susan Sarandon! In one scene, she is thrown into a water by Gandolfini's character and she looks like a mermaid with her flaming red hair, beautifully sculpted face and most amazing costume made up of Agent Provocateour underwear.
It is a funny movie with really cool choreography and mix of musical scores. Even the people who are not fans of musicals (myself included) will enjoy this goofball movie.