Review of Romance & Cigarettes (2005) by Susan P — 05 Apr 2011

An adulterous man deals with his unpredictable mistress and vengeful wife ... with songs.

When I read the basic genre details about this movie, I was excited to see John Turturro's audacious musical, but I hardly consider this a real musical. After all, almost all the actors, with the exception of Mandy Moore, sing along with a recording of the song. Am I the only one who sees this as remarkably lame?

Structurally, this film is a mess. We are introduced to the offending mistress way too late into the film, and when we're meant to feel for her and suspect that she has true feelings for the adulterous man, it's too late for us to have any emotional attachment. Likewise, the subplots involving Mandy Moore's character and Cousin Bo's laments come in too late so that they seem like diverging storylines, not foils nor a complete exploration of the main characters' lives.

Overall, the plot of Romance and Cigarettes seems like as if everybody in the neighborhood had an idea, and every idea found its way into the script with little coherence.