John Turturro’s (writer/director) film Romance & Cigarettes is filled with fun surprises. For instance, it is ten minutes into the film when James Gandolfini bursts out in song and we discover that what looked like a family drama is also a jukebox musical – the songs are not original to the film and the actors sing along to, or instead of, the original artists. In this case, the actors mostly sing along with the original artists.
Buy Romance & Cigarettes Blu-rayNick Murder (James Gandolfini), a construction worker, has a penchant for writing poems. Unfortunately for him, his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon) has found one of these poems: sexually explicit verses meant for his mistress, Tula (Kate Winslet). While her parents’ relationship appears to be crumbling, their daughter, Baby (played by Mandy Moore; and, yes, the character’s name is Baby Murder), is falling for the local no-good-nik, Fryburg (Bobby Canavale). He is a good enough guy, but he insists on calling himself “Fryburg” (his real name is Chetty) and he tends to be a dreamer more than an achiever of goals. Baby, being Mandy Moore, also plays guitar and sings in the local garage band.
Kitty seeks out Tula to confront her on the affair with her husband. Tula works in a lingerie shop and supposedly fell for Nick one day when she saw him working at the construction site without his shirt on. Tula really wants Nick, and even convinces him to get a circumcision for what appears to be mostly cosmetic reasons. Tula is flighty, dreamy, and filled with passionate dialogue while Kitty is the betrayed, loyal wife who looks for stability as well as love.
We’ve got James Gandolfini singing, an adult circumcision, licorice poisoning – a real malady, apparently, and Baby Murder. The surprises keep coming, the songs keep whisking us along, and Romance & Cigarettes keeps us entertained while filling us with a pining, hopeful sorrow.
