Romance & Cigarettes

Romance & Cigarettes is an unusual musical where song and dance appear unexpectedly in a working class neighborhood. But the movie isn't exactly a musical. Sometimes it's a comedy. More often it's a drama. In truth, it's all over the map, but instead of making it a mess, that actually lends it a lot of its charm.

The basic plot revolves around Nick (James Gandolfini), his wife Kitty (Susan Sarandon), their three daughters, and Nick's mistress Tula (Kate Winslet). There are very interesting dynamics at play between all of the characters as they show the different faces of love that they all have for each other. The story goes through the predictable developments, but spices them up with scenes of wit and subtlety.

Of the many musicals that have come out over the past year, this one certainly has less polish. That may be because it was originally released in 2005 and has only now found distribution. However, I think that works in its favor, since it makes you believe the characters are just singing what they feel. Overall, it's a very interesting movie. Maybe not great, but definitely worth a look.

My rating: 3 stars (out of 4)
Ebert's rating: 4 stars (out of 4)
Tomatometer: 49% - Rotten (as of 12/16/07)