Actor John Turturro’s woes will finally come to an end when his $11 million musical “Romance and Cigarettes” finally sees the light of day for an open-ended theatrical release at New York art-house Film Forum starting this Friday (Sept. 7).
However, these will be only semi-healed wounds from what will likely be longstanding industry scars. Turturro’s ‘Cigarettes’ has lead a troubled life and been upheld in limbo since 2004 due to studio shake-ups and general executive apathy and indifference.
According to the HollywoodReporter , Turturro tried to take matters into his own hands and self-distribute the film, but according to a lengthy article on the film in the New York Times this past weekend, the New York engagement came about only through the unlikely intervention of Adam Sandler.
Turturro will co-star in the coming Sony Sandler comedy “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” and during negotiations Sandler apparently “encouraged” the studio to support the run (Turturro also starred in Sandler’s 2002 comedy, “Mr. Deeds.” Translation: it’s nice to have friends in high places and or karma comes back around when you need it).
But before Sandler helped out and despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard, and Amy Sedaris, Sony Pictures wiped out the movie’s supporters, refused to give the feature a test screening or put it in theaters and wouldn’t drop the asking price so that a smaller company could buy it.
During this limbo period, Turturro’s mother was dying and he agonized as he watched his pet-project floundered. He even wrote obsequious letters to blockbuster directors for assistance (His 17-year-old son Amedio said, “Dad, are you trying to get a job with the guy who made all those stinkers?” the younger Turturro recalled. “He bowed his head and mumbled, ‘Yeah, that guy.’ And I said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to be kidding!’ ” – This could have been his unlikely role in “Transformers” which may have been a bid to collect more dough for his intended self-release).
“At times I’ve felt like jumping out a window,” Turturro, the writer, director and a producer of the movie said. “I don’t like heights, so it would have been a second-floor window. I would have just broken my legs.”
The story centers on a schlubby Queens construction worker (Gandolfini) who gets in trouble with his wife (Sarandon) when she discovers he has a bawdy mistress (Winslet). That’s not the hard sell of the movie. Apparently the songs are: like your average musical characters break into songs to convey their inner emotions and songs that range from from James Brown, Dusty Springfield and Bruce Springsteen, to Bow Wow Wow and Cyndi Lauper. According to the HollywoodReporter the movie was filmed in 2004, premiered in 2005 at the Venice Film Festival, but had been caught in limbo since Sony merged with MGM in 2005. It didn’t help that the film received decidedly mixed reviews.
Regardless, the film is going to be screened, if only to New York audiences and this is at least something to Turturro. “It’s a kind of vindication. I’m thankful my film will have a little hearing.”
Partial “Romance and Cigarettes” Song List
- Tom Jones‘s “Delilah”
- Engelbert Humperdinck‘s “Lonely Is a Man Without Love”
- Dusty Springfield‘s “Piece of My Heart”
- Gene Ammons‘s “Answer Me, My Love“
- Bruce Springsteen‘s “Red Headed Woman”
- Connie Francis‘s “Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me?”
- Bobby Cannavale‘s “Hot Pants”
- Anna Identici‘s “Quando m’innamoro”
- Ute Lemper‘s “Little Water song”
- Cyndi Lauper‘s “Prisoner of love“
- Elvis Presley‘s “Trouble”
- Buena Vista Social Clubs‘s “El Cuarto De Tula”
- Janis Joplin‘s “Piece of My Heart”
- Mandy Moore with Aida Turturro and Mary-Louise Parker “I Want Candy” (Bow Wow Wow cover)
- James Brown‘s It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
- Vicki Carr‘s “It Must be Him”
- James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon “The Girl That I Marry“
- Harvey and The Moonglows‘ “Ten Commandments of Love”
- Bill Maxwell‘s “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now“
- Bill Maxwell‘s “Banks of the Ohio”
- Erma Franklin‘s “Piece of My Heart”
- RnC Choir’s “When The Saviour Reached Down for Me”
“Romance And Cigarettes” trailer
Watch: Christopher Walken sings “Delilah” (Tom Jones cover)
Watch: Mary-Louise Parker burns James Gandolfini
Watch: Kate Winslet sings “Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me?” (Connie Francis cover)
Watch: James Gandolfini sings “Lonely Is a Man Without Love” (Engelbert Humperdinck cover)