Review of Romance & Cigarettes (2005) by Lindsay M — 18 Feb 2008

In "Romance & Cigarettes", when Bo (Christopher Walken) is asked what happened to his ex, Roe, the film cuts to an elaborate musical number. Bo belts out Tom Jones's "Delilah," and acts out its lyrics. "I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more," sings Bo, stabbing Roe/Delilah. As a standalone song, the number works---the choreography's great, and Walken gives a characteristically enthusiastic performance. But then the song ends. We learn Roe's not dead, we still donâ??t know anything about Bo OR Roe, and weâ??re left wondering why exactly we just watched Christopher Walken sing â??Delilah.â?? The rest of the film is similarly captivating, and confusing. Director (and fine actor) John Turturro has assembled an impressive cast to bring his pop-inflected musical to life: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Steve Buscemi sing and dance their way through songs like Springsteen's "Red-headed woman," and Cyndi Lauper's "Prisoner of Love," as they tell the story of a schlubby husband (Gandolfini) who becomes enchanted by a foul-mouthed temptress (Winslet) and cheats, only to be found out by his wife (Sarandon). The musical numbers are fun, but the film's a mess of unexplained plot threads. One gets the feeling Turturro crafted elaborate backstories in his head, then forgot to share them with us.

By me, The Coast.