I've seen tons of
strange movies in my life. I've seen mainstream films where
characters break into song. I've seen films with insanely graphic
violence. I've seen films that include: a big white rabbit; a
schizophrenic lesbian who has fantasies about an apparition of
herself; a man ejaculating into his own mouth; a famous actress
giving Vincent Gallo a blowjob; two guys with the same name getting
lost in the desert; an astronaut who becomes an embryo; a rainstorm
of frogs; an unbroken nine-minute rape scene; a dude stuffed into a
wood-chipper; selective memory erasing; a sorority girl falling for
a "retarded-retarded" boy; a wife-swapping scene; a freak slashing
his own tongue off; a woman eating fecal matter; a man in love with
a tree 500 years into the future; a biological video game console
implanted on people's backs; and an orang-utan who understands how
to give traffic signals.
I've seen some weird stuff... but "Romance & Cigarettes" ranks up
there with the most bizarre. Quite frankly, I don't know where to
start. Heck, I am not even going to bother recapping the plot... it
isn't really important anyway.The film features an amazing cast,
each of them playing a character wackier than the next. Sometimes
they break into song. Sometimes they spout gibberish. Sometimes it
is funny. Sometimes it is oddly poignant. Sometimes Kate Winslet
talks filthy in sexy outfits and flame red hair -- (there's your
price of admission right there). Sometimes I thought I loved it.
Sometimes I hated it. Sometimes I was bored. Sometimes I was
inspired.
Kate Winslet Talks Dirty in "Romance
& Cigarettes"
John Turturro is one of my favorite character actors... he always
seems to play the oddball. He is obviously enamored with oddity. He
directs this film into an fucked up concoction of head-scratching
scenes and awkward musical numbers.
It is hard to assign a grade to this film. I am tempted to give it
every grade in the book... So I will. I am giving it an A+, A, A-,
B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D- and an F.
That should average out to a C+... but I am going to give it some
bonus points for having Winslet say "good old fashioned horse fuck"
and "I want your finger in my ass". It also gets a bonus point for
letting Christopher Walken maximize his Walken-ness. Most Walken
performances only go up to ten... this one goes up to eleven. |
