Thanks for the memories!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Romance And Cigarettes is the strangest musical you've never heard of. Strange as in awkward, because most of the songs are just too overdone and absurd to work, but I'll concede that that very quality makes them unforgettable, if for not quite the same reasons the filmmakers intended. Going for a sort of pseudo Jersey Boys look, they set their cluster of stories in working class New York City, focusing on a number of hot blooded Italian American scamps and the mischief they get up to, all set to a raucous medley of musical numbers, some pleasant and others pretty darn tone deaf. James Gandolfini plays Nick Murder, a rowdy blue collar construction worker who finds himself between a rock and a hard place when his long suffering wife Kitty (an even rowdier Susan Sarandon) finds out about his secret mistress Tula (kinky Kate Winslet). This seems to be the last straw for Kitty as far as their marriage goes, and it all erupts into a series of volcanic confrontations and spats as only New Yorkers can spectacularly stage. In Kitty's corner are her three handful daughter's (Aida Turturro, Mary Louise Parker and adorable Mandy Moore) and her helpful Cousin Bo (Christopher Walken). Nick turns to a co worker Angelo (Steve Buscemi), is scolded by his stern mother (Elaine Stritch) and receives advice from an ex military tough guy (Bobby Cannavle). The film sides with both parties for one long and often chaotic look at marriage, infidelity and extremely short tempers, peppered with songs that, like I said before, are hit and miss. Walken has the best bit (doesn't he always?) when he gets to a rip roaring riff on Tom Jones's 'Delilah' that jazzes up the film quite a bit. Not destined to go down in history as one of the best musicals ever made, but worth it for the spoofy fun had by the impressive cast.

This is one of the few films that I have been unable to watch in it's entirety. A musical where nobody can sing and volume makes way for talent.A great cast is woeful and embarrassing in this indulgent car crash of a movie.Speaking of which "Thelma and Louise" star Susan Saradon is given a none too flattering close up what seems like every 10 seconds. Enough to make you drive off a cliff. It does for her career what "Abba" did for Meryl Streep.The dialogue is not witty but crass and puerile. Everything in this film appears to be borrowed and stale .If nothing else it just is discordant and irritating. Good songs are mutilated instead of celebrated in they are in,"The Blues Brothers".The film is so desperate to be hip and cool that it is quite the reverse. It is a nerd of a movie. Other than that I completely hated it.

I hate musicals, and fell into watching this without realising it was one of them, but this turned out to be one of the best films I've seen. I was thoroughly entertained in many ways.It's gritty and real whilst indulging the fantasy that allows us to get by. The music adds colour to what is already happening, it's seamless. The Engelbert Humperdinck song near the beginning is possibly one of the best ever performed songs in a movie, it's so funny! The characters are engaging and full, bordering on grotesque. Even with their exaggerated sides, there's part of them thats simple and warm, and could be the neighbour up the street or a member of your own family.It's not a complex story but it is rich, hitting many of life's notes with degree of understatement spiced with well projected emotions.The artistic camera work stands out in many scenes, a joy for the eye. All in all a real down to earth arty film that will appeal to people from all walks of life. For me it doesn't get much better than this.

Romance & Cigarettes, John Turturro's third feature as a director, is not one of the best musicals ever made, as excessively enthusiastic supporters will have you believe. Nor is it the atrocity some detractors claim it to be. It's an imperfect film, but it's hugely entertaining, filled to the bone with raw energy and finely acted, sung and danced.The story, like in most musicals, is ridiculously simple: Nick Murder (James Gandolfini), a construction worker from Brooklyn, has been happily married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon) for years, living in peace with her and their three daughters (Mandy Mooore, Mary-Louise Parker and Aida Turturro). Then one day she discovers he's been having an affair with an English call-girl named Tula (Kate Winslet) and promptly throws him out of the house. As he keeps seeing Tula and asking his colleague (Steve Buscemi) for advice, Nick has nothing better to do but express his disappointment through a number of extravagant musical numbers, while Kitty plots revenge with the hot-headed Cousin Bo (Christopher Walken).The film's strength doesn't lie in the plot, for it is merely a contrivance, but in its execution: Romance & Cigarettes is the most foul-mouthed musical since the South Park motion picture. There is a neat contrast between the singing and the talking: the former is beautiful and almost poetic (Walken's rendition of "Delilah" is a standout), the latter joyously filthy, especially when the delightfully bold Winslet is on screen. It's Steven Sondheim meets Kevin Smith, and John Turturro plays on that absurdity with glee.It is that absurdity, paired with superb performances, that makes the movie fly: from Walken's typically ridiculous haircut to Sarandon's witty remarks on adultery ("Your father went on a beaver diet") via the paradoxical fact that Aida Turturro, Gandolfini's sister in The Sopranos, plays his daughter in this film (she's only a year younger than him), the movie holds up well as long as no one starts to question the logic of certain things (like the inexplicable scene where Nick gets circumcised). The director knows this, and therefore it is strange that he chooses to end his experimental ride with a bleak and utterly flat epilogue, which totally contrasts the senseless energy of everything that's happened up to that point. Perhaps such an effect was deliberate, but it does diminish the impact of the conclusion, despite the cast's best efforts.Overall, this is a film that won't please everybody. In fact, those who aren't familiar with Turturro's style, as an actor or a director, might find it hard to embrace the madness that permeates the picture. Nevertheless, Romance & Cigarettes remains a worthy effort and deserving of a viewing, if only to see Kate Winslet talk dirty and Christopher Walken dance like few people are able to.