Trees Lounge (1996)
Written and Directed by Steve Buscemi
Starring (this is going to be long because there are so many great names):Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Mark Boone Junior, Anthony LaPaglia, Elizabeth Bracco, Debi Mazar, Samuel L. Jackson, Daniel Baldwin to name a few.
First of all this isn't a film for your casual movie viewer. You won't see anything like this in a theatre, or at least not a theatre looking to make money. It's a story written intelligently around the down and out lives of drinkers and smokers of a small town in New York.
There are very funny parts and depressing parts but Steve Buscemi manages to blend the two very well. This is aided wonderfully by absolutely perfect acting from the main cast, especially the always wonderful Buscemi who also starred in the film as Tommy Basilio.
Tommy is an auto mechanic who has been recently fired by his boss, his boss also being the one who stole his pregnant girlfriend. Ironically the bosses name is Rob played by Anthony LaPaglia. Now Tommy spends most of his time in the Trees Lounge bar war he encounters and helps many interesting characters. After his Uncle Al dies he takes over his ice cream truck, albeit unsuccesfully which leads him to trouble when he gets involved with a very young Debbie played by Chloe Sevigny in her first role after Kids. In the end Tommy Basilio learns a lot about himself and life in general and has a wild time doing so.
This interesting independent film is a must see for hardcore Soprano fans, Indie film fans and drama lovers in general. This movie makes up for its leisurely pace with wonderful acting, script and direction. This film also has a great theme song performed by Hayden appropriately named Trees Lounge.
8/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117958/
My next review will probably be Ong-Bak (2003)
Other films I've seen recently
Matchstick Men 8/10
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star 5/10
Envy 4/10
Go 7/10
Wannabes 6/10
Re-Animator 5/10
All available on imdb.com