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Movies / On DVD / Romance & Cigarettes
Romance & Cigarettes

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Romance & Cigarettes (2007)

53%
67%
63%
N/A
N/A
N/A
53 %
Reviews Counted: 53 Fresh: 28  Rotten:25 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.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

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 film's frantic, manic world. The result is an unsettling, exhilarating, and thrillingly... 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]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale

Director: John Turturro
Screenwriter: John Turturro
Producer: John Penotti, John Turturro
Composer: Paul Chihara

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 12, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish - Optional
  • Subtitles - English - Closed Captioned

Additional Release Materials:

  • Audio Commentary - John Turturro - Director; Amedeo Turturro
  • Deleted Scenes with Commentary - John Turturro
  • Featurettes - "Making a Homemade Musical"
  • Introduction - John Turturro

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
4/5

When it succeeds, it soars with great abandon, and when it fails, it fails so grandly that we still want to applaud it. This is a madhouse of a movie.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/18/08
David Cornelius
DVDTalk.com
Ratings Image
3/6

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/18/08
David Fear
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
N/A

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/03/08
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
58/100

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 | comment Comment
12/31/07
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image
N/A

...you have not lived till you've seen Walken belt out a Tom Jones tune.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/21/07
Luke Y. Thompson
OC Weekly
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3/4

It takes us on a unique, passionately committed journey.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/21/07
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News
Ratings Image
3/5

How weird is John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes? Almost indescribably weird, though also strangely involving.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/21/07
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3.5/5

John Turturro has crafted a truly unique American musical worthy of the Coen brothers' executive producer credits.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/20/07
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com
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3.5/4

Romance and Cigarettes is a dark-red valentine to the way that pop music gets under our skin.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/14/07
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
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9/10

One of the most inventive, surprising and challenging American films of 2005. Pity that it's 2007.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/13/07
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
Ratings Image
D

A step away from Springtime for Hitler -- a classic awful.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/13/07
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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B

I found myself smiling with bafflement for most of the film, mostly enjoying the unorthodoxy of the whole thing.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/12/07
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image
3/4

An ambitious experiment, it's not entirely successful, but it's easy to admire.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/07/07
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image
N/A

Romance and Cigarettes is a clever idea, poorly executed.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/07/07
Brian Tallerico
The Deadbolt
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5/5

A cheerfully bizarre delight for anyone open to its decidedly off-beat charms.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/07
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com
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3/4

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 | comment Comment
12/06/07
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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D

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

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/07
Tasha Robinson
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image
N/A

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 | comment Comment
12/06/07
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Any film that features an entrance by Christopher Walken strutting down a driveway to Elvis Presley's Trouble merits attention.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/05/07
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image
3/4

The movies need more of this kind of crazy.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/30/07
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2007 release)-John Turturro's ROMANCE & CIGARETTES gets a long-awaited theater run!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/15/07
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News

Turturro Paying for His Own Romance & Cigarettes
posted by Jeff Giles August 16, 2007
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Around the Network

• Romance & Cigarettes at Rotten Tomatoes
• Romance & Cigarettes at IGN
• Romance & Cigarettes at AskMen
 
 
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