IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive
RottenTomatoes.com
Register | Log In | What is RT?
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Trailers & Pictures The Vine Forums
Box Office | In Theaters | Opening | Upcoming | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches by subscribing to our Google Subscribed Links profile.
 
Movies / On DVD / Romance & Cigarettes
Romance & Cigarettes

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Email to a Friend
  • Add to List
  • Bookmark and Share
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon

Romance & Cigarettes (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
53 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 53

Fresh: 28

Rotten:25

Average Rating: 5.4/10

Consensus: This movie musical aims for fun and modern, but Romance and Cigarettes is too scattered and uneven to achieve either.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release: Sep 7, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $398,846

Synopsis: Part comedy, part romance, part drama, part musical, John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES teeters on the brink of collapse at every single moment, just like the fragile characters that inhibit the film's frantic, manic world. The result... Part comedy, part romance, part drama, part musical, John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES teeters on the brink of collapse at every single moment, just like the fragile characters that inhibit the film's frantic, manic world. The result is an unsettling, exhilarating, and thrillingly alive spectacle of a motion picture. Nick Murder (James Gandolfini) is a blue-collar worker who falls under the spell of the gorgeous redhead Tula (Kate Winslet). But when his frustrated wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), finds out, the Murder family begins to short circuit. Of the three daughters--Constance (Mary-Louise Parker), Rosebud (Aida Turturro), and Baby (Mandy Moore)--Baby appears to be next in line for love, though no one approves of her choice of mate, the goofy Fryburg (Bobby Cannavale). Kitty's absurd Cousin Bo (a hilarious Christopher Walken) helps her to track down Tula, but that proves to be a futile exercise as well. Along the way, there are crude coworkers (Steve Buscemi), annoying neighbors (Amy Sedaris), and brash in-laws (Elaine Stritch) to add even more zaniness to the proceedings. To make matters more bizarre, characters break out into song-and-dance routines whenever the fancy strikes them. While Turturro's film is certainly an acquired taste, it is nonetheless one of the more distinct works of the decade. He creates a world that is on the verge of absolute collapse, with characters who are clearly desperate to retain a connection to someone or something in our harsh modern world. [More]

Starring: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi

Starring: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Eddie Izzard, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Christopher Walken

Director: John Turturro

Director: John Turturro
Screenwriter: John Turturro
Producer: John Penotti, John Turturro
Composer: Paul Chihara
Studio: Humperdink

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

  • Buy DVD
 
 
 
 
Release:

Feb 12, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish - Optional
  • Subtitles - English - Closed Captioned

Additional Release Materials:

  • Audio Commentary - John Turturro - Director; Amedeo Turturro
  • Deleted Scenes with Commentary - John Turturro
  • Featurettes - "Making a Homemade Musical"
  • Introduction - John Turturro

Reviews for Romance & Cigarettes

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

When it succeeds, it soars with great abandon, and when it fails, it fails so grandly that we still want to applaud it. This is a madhouse of a movie.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
02/18/08
David Cornelius
DVDTalk.com
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
01/18/08
David Fear
Time Out New York
Ratings Image

In a season seasoned with off-beat originality in the movies, from Lars and the Real Girl to I'm Not There, you still have not seen anything quite like John Turturro's extraordinary Romance and Cigarettes.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
01/03/08
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The film has an overall tonal inconsistency and suffers from the occasional bout of tin-ear-itis, which ultimately derails this sometimes interesting attempt at reinvigorating the genre.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
12/31/07
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image

...you have not lived till you've seen Walken belt out a Tom Jones tune.

Full Review Source: OC Weekly | comment Comment
12/21/07
Luke Y. Thompson
OC Weekly
Ratings Image

It takes us on a unique, passionately committed journey.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/21/07
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News
Ratings Image

How weird is John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes? Almost indescribably weird, though also strangely involving.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/21/07
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

John Turturro has crafted a truly unique American musical worthy of the Coen brothers' executive producer credits.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
12/20/07
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com
Ratings Image

Romance and Cigarettes is a dark-red valentine to the way that pop music gets under our skin.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
12/14/07
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
Ratings Image

One of the most inventive, surprising and challenging American films of 2005. Pity that it's 2007.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
12/13/07
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
Ratings Image

A step away from Springtime for Hitler -- a classic awful.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
12/13/07
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image

I found myself smiling with bafflement for most of the film, mostly enjoying the unorthodoxy of the whole thing.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
12/12/07
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image

An ambitious experiment, it's not entirely successful, but it's easy to admire.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
12/07/07
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image

Romance and Cigarettes is a clever idea, poorly executed.

Full Review Source: The Deadbolt | comment Comment
12/07/07
Brian Tallerico
The Deadbolt
Ratings Image

A cheerfully bizarre delight for anyone open to its decidedly off-beat charms.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
12/06/07
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

It is not every musical that features lung cancer and James Gandolfini singing along with Engelbert Humperdinck to that every-day-I-wake-up 1960s standard 'A Man Without Love.'

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
12/06/07
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

While it looks like it was great fun to film, it's regrettably little fun to watch.

Full Review Source: Onion AV Club | comment Comment
12/06/07
Tasha Robinson
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image

This singing-along-to-the-radio effect has a dingy charm that honors the blue-collar Italian setting, yet Turturro spoils it by turning the movie into a hip star party.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/06/07
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Any film that features an entrance by Christopher Walken strutting down a driveway to Elvis Presley's Trouble merits attention.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
12/05/07
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image

The movies need more of this kind of crazy.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/30/07
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Romance & Cigarettes

December 29, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

August 16, 2007: Turturro Paying for His Own Romance & Cigarettes
Oh, corporate mergers. Shareholders love 'em, but if you're lost in the shuffle when two industry giants decide to bump uglies, you can find yourself in for a world of... More...

February 01, 2007: Critical Consensus: "Because" Is Less Than So-So; "Messengers" Not Screened -- Guess The Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got mother/daughter conflict ("Because I Said So," starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore) and dark proceedings on a North Dakota... More...

April 20, 2006: SF International Fest Starts Today; "Factotum," "Romance," "Companion" and More!
Bay Area RTers, get yourselves to San Francisco this weekend for the annual SF International Film Festival for your chance to see flicks like "Factotum," "Art... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for Romance & Cigarettes

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
FRESH: 1 93% Iron Man
FRESH: 2 85% Forgetting Sarah Marshall
ROTTEN: 3 50% Sex and the City - The…
ROTTEN: 4 52% Leatherheads
ROTTEN: 5 12% Made of Honor

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
FRESH: 77 77% Indiana Jones and the …
FRESH: 97 97% 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
FRESH: 88 88% Mongol
FRESH: 78 78% Standard Operating Procedure
ROTTEN: 30 30% War, Inc.

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Brad Pitt, Florist?

Brad Pitt, Florist?

De Niro, Tucci in What Just Happened

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat

Plan your costume with our Halloween Guide!

That's Hot

That's Hot

Paris Hilton picks her favorite films.

Toon vs. Toon

Toon vs. Toon

We rank the best animated films of all time!

More Info

RT To Go

Get this widget! Movie Reviews

Around The Network

  • Romance & Cigarettes at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Romance & Cigarettes at IGN
  • Romance & Cigarettes at AskMen
 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.