Down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world of the working class. Nick is an ironworker who builds and repairs bridges. He's married to Kitty, a dressmaker, a strong and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula. Nick is basically a good, hardworking man driven forward by will and blinded by his urges.
While it looks like it was great fun to film, it's regrettably little fun to watch.
– Tasha Robinson,
AV Club,
6 Dec 2007
fresh:
It is not every musical that features lung cancer and James Gandolfini singing along with Engelbert Humperdinck to that every-day-I-wake-up 1960s standard 'A Man Without Love.'
– Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Dec 2007
fresh:
Romance and Cigarettes is a dark-red valentine to the way that pop music gets under our skin.
– Moira MacDonald,
Seattle Times,
14 Dec 2007
fresh:
How weird is John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes? Almost indescribably weird, though also strangely involving.
– Carina Chocano,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Dec 2007
fresh:
In a season seasoned with off-beat originality in the movies, from Lars and the Real Girl to I'm Not There, you still have not seen anything quite like John Turturro's extraordinary Romance and Cigarettes.