After buying the rights in 2005, Sony Pictures apparently didn’t know what to do with this blue-collar musical, and left the film to rot on its shelves for the last two years. Two years later, director John Turturro [3] wrestled back the rights from the studio and is distributing it on his own dime. Romance and Cigarettes [4] is the story of a construction worker whose years of casual infidelity finally come to a head when he falls for a vixen, inflaming the wrath of his wife. Described by Turturro as a “savage musical,” the film evokes the work of the great British screenwriter Dennis Potter [5], whose flawed heroes would stop what they’re doing to lip-sync sunny melodies and dance away their troubles. Romance looks funny and exciting, as well as depressing and utterly original.
Edina Cinema [6], 3911 W. 50th St., Edina; 651-649-4416.
