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Romance & Cigarettes (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:12
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: This movie musical aims for fun and modern, but Romance and Cigarettes is too scattered and uneven to achieve either.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sexual content including some strong dialogue, and language.
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... 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
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Reviews for Romance & Cigarettes
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.
How weird is John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes? Almost indescribably weird, though also strangely involving.
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.'
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.
Romance & Cigarettes is not your usual drama about a troubled marriage. It attempts something startlingly original by melding light opera with soap opera.
Romance and Cigarettes is lewd and it's lurid and looks to be a lost pop opera, but it has more vitality than anything else out there.
John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes is the real thing, a film that breaks out of Hollywood jail with audacious originality, startling sexuality, heartfelt emotions, and an anarchic liberty.
The movie comes on as a novelty item, meaning it's so full of disparate parts and so unable to approach coherence, it just sits there and burns out.
It has cult item stamped all over it, and fans of (severely) experimental cinema might see it as a revelation. Most others will find that watching this movie is like having your senses beaten with a rake.
There is more raw vitality pumping through Romance & Cigarettes than in a dozen perky high school musicals.
It's karaoke with a vengeance, the circle of the inferno that Dante could never in his wildest imaginings anticipate.
With Walken around, hair up high, of course there are fleeting moments of fascinating weirdness, but even then, you're still moderately embarrassed for the cast.
Latest News for Romance & Cigarettes
December 29, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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