Trees Lounge

If John Cassavetes was alive, he'd have a copy of Trees Lounge in his video library. This is a story that is hard to tell, let alone find an audience. Although many can relate with the cast of lost souls hanging out at a bar most of the day, many will not admit to being somewhat connected to any of the characters. Filmed for less that 2 million, this independent, low budget, and somewhat of a masterpiece is brilliant as well as entertaining. Much of the cast has gone on to do other known films. Carol Kane, Mark Boone Junior Steve Buscemi, Bronson Dudley, Anthony LaPaglia and Steve's brother Michael Buscemi star in this Minnie and Moskowitz type story. Seymour Cassell and Mimi Rogers add their touch of magic to this story as well. A deep story with deep characters, this is a movie worth watching.

Watched this with some trepidation, having seen the absolutely excellent trailer. So few movies live up to their trailers, especially indies. Anxiety increased by having read Buscemi's fairly harrowing account of making the film in one of those 'The Directors' books.

Shouldn't have worried. Great flick. Totally engrossing, especially to a *cough* former *cough* barfly like myself. Beautifully understated, funny, very sad, nicely paced and Buscemi very wisely NOT trying to dominate every scene, although he certainly dominates the movie.

Movie appears on first sight plot less but actually it isn't at all: Buscemi's search for a second chance to escape from the morass of his own making is riveting. Everyone involved seems to have had a good time and the beautifully relaxed performances are the reward. Only the two knucklehead goombahs fall below the otherwise uniformly excellent level.

A real treat, and thoroughly watchable-again able. My DVD was in TV format, which sucked, but otherwise the low budget doesn't really intrude.

Nearest movie to it I can think of offhand is KILLING OF A Chinese BOOKIE. Radically different subject matter but similar bittersweet texture.

A slightly, but only slightly, generous 9/10 from me.

Excellent film dealing with a group of unhappy people who drown their sorrows in booze, powder, and sex. The chief sorrowmeister, Tommy, was a pathetic loser who spent inordinate amounts of time swilling beer and shots in a shabby bar which boasted a temperamental barkeep, a postage stamp sized men's room, and one table. When not turning his liver into plywood Tommy halfheartedly attempts to find work as a mechanic but winds up driving his uncle's ice cream wagon and getting in over his head with a troubled teen on the verge of bolting from daddy's violent household. A sad picture for sure, but I couldn't help laughing out loud at some of these characters' antics. A very fine movie depicting a realistic looking slice of the ugly side of our human existence.

Whenever one thinks of Steve Buscemi the actor, one probably thinks of the line about his character in FARGO, where a girl says, "Well, he was funny looking...more than most people, even." That has more or less summed up the parts Buscemi has played throughout the years, way back to the mini-series of LONESOME DOVE. But he's got more range than that, as he showed in LIVING IN OBLIVION(1995), and this movie, which he also wrote and directed. The nice surprise is he also has the makings of a fine writer and director. There's no real plot here, which undoubtedly will throw some people(and has, if some of the comments are any indication), just observing a certain type of people(working-class and barflies) and how they live their lives. While it may drag at times, there's enough truth and detail to keep you interested. Buscemi also directs actors well; this is the film which convinced me Chloe Sevigny was for real. I understand Buscemi is making another film; I look forward to it.

Steve Buscemi plays a loser who hangs around a bar called the Trees Lounge, who keeps making his own life worse. He picks fights with his friends, loses jobs, and generally gets drunk and gets into trouble. There's a great scene where Buscemi takes a job as an ice-cream truck driver, he's completely the wrong person to do the job. Still, the movie doesn't really have many happy or fun moments, it's the portrayal of a guy who just doesn't care anymore and wants to spend his time hanging around a bar with a bunch of other regulars with no aim in life but the next drink. This movie is not as fun, clever, interesting or memorable as it could have been, it's hard to care about any of the characters, they live such boring, banal lives, and there aren't any quotable lines in the movie. It is worth watching once, however.