Romance & Cigarettes

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Romance & Cigarettes
Romancecigarettes.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Turturro
Produced by John Penotti
John Turturro
Written by John Turturro
Starring James Gandolfini
Susan Sarandon
Kate Winslet
Cinematography Tom Stern
Editing by Ray Hubley
Studio GreeneStreet Films
Distributed by Icon Film Distribution (UK)
Boroturro (US)
Release date(s)
  • September 6, 2005 (2005-09-06) (Venice)
  • March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24) (UK & IRL)
  • September 7, 2007 (2007-09-07) (US)
Running time 105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $2,935,242[1]

Romance & Cigarettes is a 2005 American musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Turturro. The film stars an ensemble cast which includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Christopher Walken, Barbara Sukowa, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard, and Amy Sedaris.

Contents

Plot [edit]

Nick Murder (James Gandolfini) is an iron worker who has been married for years to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), who works as a seamstress and is the mother of Nick's three daughters. While Nick loves his wife, his head is turned by Tula (Kate Winslet), a sexy lingerie salesgirl, and soon they're having a passionate affair. When Kitty discovers the infidelity, she becomes enraged and kicks him out, forcing him to decide what he really wants from life and what's most important to him. Along the way, many of the characters periodically turn to their favorite songs to explain and amplify their emotions, lip-synching along with the original recordings.

Main cast [edit]

Production and release [edit]

Produced by upcoming New York production company GreeneStreet Films,[2] with financial backing from United Artists, the Coen brothers and Mel Gibson's company Icon Entertainment International, Romance & Cigarettes premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2005, followed by a showing at the Toronto International Film Festival a week later. It was first released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 24, 2006, quickly followed by a number of other European countries in March and April 2006. In the United States the film got a limited release on September 7, 2007, distributed by director Turturro himself, although it was originally intended that United Artists should handle the US distribution.

Reception [edit]

Romance & Cigarettes has received mixed reviews; on Rotten Tomatoes, as of October 2011, it has a score of 52%, with the consensus "This movie musical aims for fun and modern, but Romance & Cigarettes is too scattered and uneven to achieve either."[3]

On April 27, 2008, the film was viewed at the 10th Annual Ebertfest, in Champaign, Illinois. Ebertfest is Roger Ebert's film festival near his hometown of Urbana, Illinois. Aida Turturro and Tricia Brouk were scheduled to attend the event. Ebert gave the film 4 stars out of 4.

The scene of Christopher Walken performing Tom Jones's "Delilah" received moderate popularity on YouTube. It has over 1.5 million views since 2006.[4]

Soundtrack [edit]

  1. "Delilah" - Tom Jones
  2. "A Man Without Love" - Engelbert Humperdinck
  3. "Piece of My Heart" - Dusty Springfield
  4. "Answer Me, My Love" - Gene Ammons
  5. "Red-Headed Woman" - Bruce Springsteen
  6. "Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me?" - Connie Francis
  7. "Hot Pants" - Bobby Cannavale
  8. "Quando m'innamoro" - Anna Identici
  9. "Little Water Song" - Ute Lemper
  10. "Prisoner of Love" - Cyndi Lauper
  11. "Trouble" - Elvis Presley
  1. "El cuarto de Tula" - Buena Vista Social Club
  2. "Piece of My Heart" - Erma Franklin
  3. "I Want Candy" - Mandy Moore with Aida Turturro and Mary-Louise Parker
  4. "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" - James Brown
  5. "It Must Be Him" - Vikki Carr
  6. "The Girl That I Marry" - James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon
  7. "Ten Commandments of Love" - Harvey & The Moonglows
  8. "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" - Aida Turturro
  9. "Banks of the Ohio" - David Patrick Kelly and Katherine Borowitz
  10. "Piece of My Heart" - Erma Franklin
  11. "When the Saviour Reached Down for Me" - The R&C Choir

References [edit]

External links [edit]