Christopher Walken dancing in the streets in Romance and Cigarettes (United Artists)
I have to apologize for not getting to Romance and Cigarettes (opened November 30 at Landmark's La Jolla Village Theaters) sooner. Any film that features an entrance by Christopher Walken strutting down a driveway to Elvis Presley's Trouble merits attention. This third feature by actor-turned-director John Turturro and produced by the Coen Brothers has languished on the shelf for a couple years but has finally won a theatrical release.
Romance and Cigarettes is another strong musical entry in a year that has surprisingly produced such diverse and inspired works as Once, I'm Not There, Control and Hairspray . And just as each of those films has tweaked or rejuvenated the genre, Romance and Cigarettes serves up an inspired take on the movie musical, what Turturro calls "a working class opera." Turturro seems to take inspiration from Dennis Potter's British TV mini-series Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective. Both of those shows featured characters who would spontaneously burst into lip-synched renditions of popular songs in the midst of their bleak or working class environments. The songs would reflect the characters' emotional state and would provide odd flights of fancy rooted in the real world. Turturro employs a similar approach as his romantically challenged entourage of characters reveal their inner selves through pop music.
