Romance & Cigarettes

If you are ever in the mood for a quirky, out of control semi-musical comedy, look no further than writer/director John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes. There is certainly something addictive about this film, but I can't put my finger on it. It's not a very good movie, but it is aware of itself and chooses to go all out and over the top.
James Gandolfini (of The Sopranos) stars as Susan Surandon's cheating husband, who has finally been found out. He then tries to break things off with his cockney, red-headed mistress played by Kate Winslet. While he struggles to leave her, his wife and her cousin (Christopher Walken) plan to confront, and possibly kill her. Along for the ride are the couples teenage, angst ridden daughters played by Mandy Moore, Mary Louise-Parker, and Aida Turturro, a construction worker full of fantasies (Steve Bucemi), and all sorts of characters with appearances by Elaine Strich, Eddie Izzard and more.
Whenever the troubled, hectic lives of the characters become too difficult to put into words, they break out into song. This is not, however exactly a musical. Songs such as Janis Joplin's Piece of my heart, or Tom Jones' Delilah play, while the characters sing along and perform choreographed dance numbers. The whole movie has a comedic, purposefully over the top feel to it, until it takes a slight dark turn at the end. If you don't take it seriously, and its not meant to be, it's a delight to watch, and very entertaining.
The end does not seem to fit quite right to me, and the story is very loosely threaded together. There are many reasons that a critic could tear this movie to shreds, but I was too captured by the absurdity of it. The cast as terrific chemistry and they alone are a reason to see it. Surandon, Walken, and Gandolfini are the stand outs, with a few nice cameos. It is a movie about love, sex, betrayal, with the message that it does not always work out alright; people do not always fall in or out of love. There is actually a good message presented, but the presentation is too out of control and silly to attempt a deep meaning or serious plot turn, that is where it falls a little flat. But for some reason, I keep coming back to it.

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