So the story goes something like this; well respected actor wants to make a movie. He pitches the idea of a quirky working man’s opera to studios and one eventually decides to take a flier on it. Then when the studio views the film, they realize their idea of a working man’s opera is Chicago, when the actor turned director in question had more of a pseudo-musical that emasculates Tony Soprano type of vibe in mind. So the studio, realizing they have no idea how to market the film, promptly shelves it and hopes it will fade into obscurity. The actor/director frustrated that his artistic vision is collecting dust on some warehouse shelf, battles the studio to try to get them to release it. After two years the studio relents and sells the film back to the actor/director, so he can release the film with his own money. So without further ado, I present to you John Turturro’s anti-musical Romance and Cigarettes.
Nick (James Gandolfini) is a New York iron worker married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon) but he is having an affair with Tula (Kate Winslet). When his adulterous behavior is discovered Nick must decide if the pain and monotony of marriage is what his heart truly yearns for.
Musicals have never been my thing. I find them to be banal and meandering, plus I’ve never really understood why people suddenly felt the need to break into song. I can understand why my father does it, because he is irrevocably weird and he knows it annoys his children. Now I know what you are thinking, “But Matt, The Muppet Movie is one of your Top Ten favorite films and that is a musical.” To which I reply that it is a taut examination of 70′ Pop Culture which uses the most common forms of the day (Variety Shows, notable Guest Stars, Swedish Chefs) to both pay homage and satirize the phenomena with exacting efficiency and affability. Plus it has Muppets. Duh.
So I didn’t exactly enter the screening with an open mind, and not surprisingly Romance and Cigarettes does little to change that opinion. But that is because the film is as far from a standard Hollywood musical as you likely to find. It’s by no means bombastic or showy, taking a far more minimalist style and tone to the events, and the ending is anything but your typical Hollywood ending. The relatively non-nondescript storyline takes a surprisingly dour turn in the third act that will leave you stunned at the odd, yet realistic turn of events. This is meant to be a small snapshot of a man’s life as he struggles to redeem himself in the eyes of his family for his past indiscretions. There are no villains in the film, merely people just trying to get by and cope with the monotony of day to day life. Not exactly the rip-roaring style one would normally expect from a musical.
While the story is less than exciting Romance and Cigarettes does boast some nice performances, and with a cast as impressive as this one (Christopher Walken, Mary Louise Parker, Steve Buscemi, Mandy Moore, , Eddie Izzard, and Amy Sedaris) it shouldn’t come as a shock. Winslet in particular seems to be having a blast as Tula, as obscenities steamroll out of her with a gleeful glint in her eye. And how can a movie go wrong with a sorrowful Walken reenacting Tom Jones’ Delilah with that distinctive Walkonian style. It’s a pop culture moment that can only be described as decadent.
But for all its great moments and ridiculously extravagant dialogue Romance and Cigarettes struggles mightily with its pacing. Too often see sawing from joyous to depressed and back again, it is difficult for the viewer to ever find any stability in what they are witnessing. Couple that with the rather odd, yet compelling choice to have some of the actors lip-synche to the songs, while others sing along with the master track, and too often it feels as if the audience is being dragged from scene to scene as if they are on some thrown together guided tour about the life of a blue collar adulterer. After 100 minutes of being pushed, prodded, yanked, and abandoned it makes it incredibly difficult for one to decide if they enjoyed the route the film took you on. But I do know this, I kind of think I did.
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