Review of Romance & Cigarettes (2005) by Peter D — 10 Feb 2008

Love it or hate it, we have Moulin Rouge! to thank for opening the doors to all sorts of experimentation with the musical form, the results of which have delighted even the likes of me, who never had much use for all that singing and dancing anyway.

But this wild and weird blue-collar variant, in which a schlubby middle-aged adulterer (James Gandolfini) takes to the streets in song, is my favorite of this year's exciting offerings â?? which include Tim Burton's visionary gothic take on Sweeney Todd; the frothy screen-to-stage-and-back-again John Waters riff that is Hairspray; Julie Taymor's hit-and-miss slice of Beatlemania, Across the Universe; the "real world" Disney fairytale Enchanted; the musically challenged but otherwise inspired coming-of-age tale, Colma; and Once, a scruffy Irish romance with a neorealist twist.

I've written about Romance & Cigarettes at length elsewhere, so suffice it to say, John Turturro's gutsy creation just keeps growing on me.