Romance And Cigarettes (2007)

A blue collar construction worker (James Gandolfini) is caught cheating by his wife (Susan Sarandon). He must then decide between his wife and his mistress (Kate Winslet). Written and directed by actor turned director John Turturro. For whatever reason, Turturro decided this dark romance about infidelity among the working class should be a musical. But not an ordinary musical. The actors lip sync to well known pop songs that are incorporated to comment on the action along with some clunky choreography by Tricia Brouk though to be fair, it appears she's working with non dancers. The narrative itself is simple enough and without the songs would make for an hour long movie. The numbers vary in quality but for the most part, they are the reason to see the movie. In spite of its weaknesses, I kind of enjoyed it although it too often seemed like a home movie where the director invited all his famous friends to participate. The large cast includes Christopher Walken, Mary Louise Parker, Elaine Stritch, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Tony Goldwyn, Mandy Moore, Amy Sedaris, Eddie Izzard and Barbara Sukowa. Among the singers used to dub the actors: Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Connie Francis, Cyndi Lauper and Engelbert Humperdinck,