Romance & Cigarettes

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Romance & Cigarettes

R

Released Sep 6, 2005

1h 45m

Musical

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

53%

Tomatometer

59 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In this musical that features characters lip-synching to classic songs, Nick (James Gandolfini), a Queens, N.Y.-based ironworker, lives with his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), and three daughters. When Nick meets a significantly younger woman, Tula (Kate Winslet), he starts an affair with her, much to the chagrin of his wife, and his life is thrown into upheaval. Kitty kicks Nick out of the house, and he is forced to make some difficult decisions.

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Critics Consensus

This movie musical aims for fun and modern, but Romance and Cigarettes is too scattered and uneven to achieve either.

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David Fear

Time Out

Turturro's attempt to mix working-class magical realism and MGM romanticism is wildly uneven.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 17, 2011

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Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

Romance & Cigarettes wears thin, like a moral for the titular addiction: Sure, there's the sweet dream of that first drag, but a whole pack'll do a body bad.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 18, 2008

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Amy Nicholson

I.E. Weekly

It shouldn't work, but there's something beautiful in Turturro's non-judgmental, almost affectionate, exposure of human love as the courting dance of clueless primates

Rated: A-

Jan 29, 2008

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Bullz-Eye.com

Rated: 1.5/5

Oct 18, 2008

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Jenny Peters

Hollywood.com

Rated: 2/5

Oct 1, 2008

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David Cornelius

DVDTalk.com

When it succeeds, it soars with great abandon, and when it fails, it fails so grandly that we still want to applaud it. This is a madhouse of a movie.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 18, 2008

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Dani G

Original and different? Totally. Not the best of films, but a fresh experiment, also with a never seen Kate Winslet

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/09/25

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Richard W

The best performers in one of the worst musicals ever made. This is one of those rare instances where a movie starts off so bad you can't stop watching it. And then it starts to grow on you like a fungus taking its sweet-ass time turning into tasty mushroom.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/25/24

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helder f

This movie has great scenes and acting, but that isn’t enough. At most, the movie plays like a dream, a person’s daydreaming and recollections as the radio plays their favorite songs. It falls mostly flat, where really no character knows where they’re headed and no story stands out. I think the characters may stay with the viewer, but their story is lost.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/04/24

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nate m

Ya want weird? Ya got weird. Ya want something different? Ya want some creativity? Ya got it! I'm amazed that a movie as offbeat and art-house and indie as this could get A-list stars and get made. I felt it got boring at times, but I kept watching because of the cleverness, intelligence, parody, and wit. I think this will appeal a limited audience, but those who 'get it' will enjoy it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Flipped this on late at night and was not expecting a musical so I was caught off guard and kinda like a deer in headlights for most of this. ‘Eccentric' is how I'd best sum it up in one word, it surprised me.... good or bad, and I'll never know what I'd have thought of it if I knew it was a musical going into it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

Quite amusing, in a certain way.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

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John Turturro

Director

James Gandolfini

Nick Murder

Susan Sarandon

Kitty Kane

Kate Winslet

Tula

Steve Buscemi

Angelo

Christopher Walken

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Synopsis

In this musical that features characters lip-synching to classic songs, Nick (James Gandolfini), a Queens, N.Y.-based ironworker, lives with his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), and three daughters. When Nick meets a significantly younger woman, Tula (Kate Winslet), he starts an affair with her, much to the chagrin of his wife, and his life is thrown into upheaval. Kitty kicks Nick out of the house, and he is forced to make some difficult decisions.

Director: John Turturro
Producer: John Penotti
Screenwriter: John Turturro
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: United Artists, Icon Entertainment International, GreeneStreet Films Inc.
Rating: R (Sexual Content/Dialogue|Language)
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 6, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $540.1K
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Surround

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