The central romance in Turturro's movie is between an old Brooklyn couple, Nick (James Gandolfini) and Kitty (Susan Sarandon), whose marriage is on the rocks because of Nick's fling with a trashy lingerie-store clerk, Tula - portrayed by Kate Winslet, playing the tramp to the hilt in red lipstick and push-up bra. While Nick deals with his conflicting passions, Kitty retreats to the comfort of her church.
They each pour out their hearts through song. Nick leads a dancing cadre of garbagemen and cops in a lament about what women want, while Kitty belts out Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" in the choir loft.
Others get into the act. Nick and Kitty's three daughters - played by Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro and Mandy Moore - have formed a backyard punk band, with a crooning neighbor (Bobby Cannavale) sometimes singing lead. When Kitty's cousin Bo (Christopher Walken) arrives to help, he's singing Elvis Presley's "Trouble," with the King's vocals playing alongside Walken's.
Turturro has his characters singing along with the radio, even if there's no radio around. He also jumps in and out of flashbacks and fantasy sequences at the slightest provocation. Turturro's moves don't always make sense, but by thunder they play up the king-size emotions of this Brooklyn soap opera.
The problem is that there's just too darn much going on. Nick and Kitty's melodrama should be enough to sustain this movie, so the subplots - a hot-and-heavy romance between Moore's and Cannavale's characters, or Aida Turturro's offputting portrayal of a mentally challenged woman - are padding an already stuffed film.
All involved seem to give themselves over to Turturro's offbeat vision of a modern musical, and there are gems to be found in Sarandon's aching portrayal of Kitty and Winslet's deglamorized strumpet. "Romance and Cigarettes" looks as if it was a blast to make, so it's too bad more of that joy didn't spill out into the audience.
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* SEAN P. MEANS can be reached at movies@sltrib.com or 801-257-8602. Send comments about this review to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Romance and Cigarettes
* WHERE: Broadway Centre Cinemas.
* WHEN: Opens today.
* RATING: R for sexual content including some strong dialogue, and language.
* RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes.
* BOTTOM LINE: John Turturro's crazy musical experiment works in fits and starts.
