We just saw "Romance and Cigarettes" at our Naro Film Forum here in Norfolk, VA, and everybody loved it. It is fresh and funny and full of odd twists and surprises. It's a small tragedy that this picture won't be shown in theaters, but at least it will be available on DVD. James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon played warring spouses with wit and energy, while Kate Winslett was stunning in the role of a tramp with an underlying love for the married man she's been fooling around with. I know musicals are generally dead on arrival in movies these days, but the musical numbers are surreal in the way they grow out of the action going on in the story. In this way, it's a little like Woody Allen's "Everybody Says I Love You." The music in this movie is taken from popular songs of recent past, with the actors singing along with the record.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Black Snake Moan
(2006)
An excellent movie with disastrous marketing
11 February 2007
We just saw this film previewed before release at the Norfolk (VA) Film Forum, and there was general agreement on two matters: There were excellent performances in a first rate drama by the two leads and by others: and secondly, the marketing for this movie will only bring disaster. We saw a lurid poster with chains and suggestive commentary implying some sort of wacko sexual relationship between Samuel Jackson and Cristina Ricci, whereas the movie has some real depth and some thoughtful ideas. What's sad is that people looking for near porn will be drawn in to see the film and will be disappointed because it will be too "heavy" for them, while the people who would really enjoy it wouldn't be caught dead walking into the theater showing it. Too bad. A good film wasted.
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