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Movies / On DVD / Romance & Cigarettes
Romance & Cigarettes

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Romance & Cigarettes (2007)

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Reviews Counted:56

Fresh:29

Rotten:27

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.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for sexual content including some strong dialogue, and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:24-03-2006

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

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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As styles diverge, unease creeps in and overshadows the actors.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/28/06
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Terrific as a musical, indifferent as a drama, the movie’s great cast fails to rescue a scattershot approach. See it, though, for Walken on inspired form.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Ian Freer
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Romance and Cigarettes may not always work as well as it probably should, but regardless there's no arguing with the originality of Turturro's piece.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
04/01/06
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

An uneven, but sporadically entertaining movie.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/01/06
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Such an outrageous film that it's almost impossible not to adore it.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/10/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Turturro pulls off a very tricky balancing act, by trusting in the expertise of his performers and by infusing the whole film with energy and affection.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Energetic, colourful and occasionally just downright weird, this has Future Cult Movie written all over it.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/23/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

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
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/18/08
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

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

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

The movies need more of this kind of crazy.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/30/07
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

It isn't funny, magical, or realistic. In fact, it's downright unwatchable.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/26/05
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

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
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/09/07
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Romance & Cigarettes is less a story than a state of mind, and less a musical than a meditation on how we instinctively set our lives to music, if not other musicals; unfortunately, it is just shy of convincing on both counts.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
09/04/07
Michelle Orange
Michelle Orange
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

An appallingly bad, mostly unwatchable embarrassment to everyone involved.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment 1 Comment
09/04/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/18/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Romance & Cigarettes

December 29, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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April 20, 2006: SF International Fest Starts Today; "Factotum," "Romance," "Companion" and More!
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