Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"That's why I drink it straight. The ice cubes are too heavy."

1996 R / Comedy Drama Directed by: Steve Buscemi Starring: Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Anthony LaPaglia

Tagline

A story about one man's search... for who knows what

Summary Capsule

Steve Buscemi loses his job, best friend and love, all in one big stroke of luck.

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Amazon.com: DVD | Amazon.com: Soundtrack

Nancy's Rating: Dingy, uncomfortable lighting...
Nancy's Review: Steve Buscemi is who I usually call my favorite actor. It doesn't matter if he's being hilarious or dramatic — he always plays this middle-aged, real life underdog. He's not the loser in the teen movie that asks out the prom queen, nor does he ever get a promotion. He's a dork, always. And he's a dork that you know, a realistic kind of dork that circles in and out of your life. He borrows money, he trips over expensive antiques, sometimes he says inappropriate things around grandmothers. Whatever. That's Steve for you. He's something stable in my life, you could say - no matter what happens, Steve Buscemi will always be a dork who just can't get things together. I can count on that.

"So why? Why is he so likeable? Why am I rooting for him?"

Trees Lounge is Steve's big movie. Written and directed by him, it's the story of a man, Tommy, whose life is... pathetic. Everyone around him sees it, he sees it but he tries to deny it. He spends his days lounging around a bar, blaming other people for his mistakes and being genuinely lame. Although his life was never grand, he's in the ABSOLUTE pits now — jobless, loveless, and very alcoholic. His best friend fired him and stole his lady love. That's gotta burn. So he just chills out in the neighborhood hang-out bar, existing to be creepy.

But he's got something good underneath the creepy. Trees Lounge really exposed the decent man behind all that pathetic iffy aura that exists around most barflys. That's what I really like about this movie — Tommy has a lot of love in his heart. Sure, he's socially inept and pisses people off a lot, but he never means to. He just has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. Yes, he did very bad things, but that doesn't make him a very bad man. He's still searching for something in his mess of his existence. There's even more to him than the movie will allow; when it's over, you feel like you're still missing out on something. I know I looked up and said "...what? Tell me more about Tommy!"

I'm not one hundred percent sure how I feel about it. It's a little hard to watch at times, just because the characters were very realistic and were in a lot of pain (but they wouldn't know it because alcohol dulled it so well). I was expecting it to be slow-moving and boring but fulfilling, the kind of movie you begrudgingly sit down to watch but you know it will be worth it in the end. And of course it was the exact opposite. It went by so fast and at the end I was wanted a lot more.

Maybe I just have a personal pet peeve for movies that just end abruptly, stressing the point that life doesn't have an absolute happy ending. Yet, in my short little life I've found life usually has some conclusion on things. Nothing is ever perfect, but sooner or later things always tie together. Some directors hate happy endings and give artistic excuses on why their movies end swiftly. I think they're sadistic and love to torture their viewers. But that's me.

Earlier today my friend and I were arguing about High Fidelity and Ghost World. We were talking about how protagonists have to be likeable, but they can be flawed. He said Rob was selfish and arrogant and all that, but that's what the movie was about, and so it was alright that he was kind of a creepy ass jerk. I disagreed. I thought that since we are supposed to sympathize with this man, he can't keep making me madder and madder and madder with his cocky attitude, jerk-ish tendencies and general creepy demeanor. He was flawed, but also just had a lot of personality characteristics that I hated.

Enid in Ghost World, however, hurt a lot of people really bad. But she was just a confused little girl. That's how I always saw her, scared, clinging to people and then turning around and hurting them accidentally. She was normal, and human, and I completely understand all of her actions. She was flawed... but I loved her! My friend told me that Enid was wrong in her actions.

We agreed on he got how Rob worked, and I got how Enid worked, and that allowed us to relate to the characters and like them. Watch that theory be crushed.

Then I watched this movie. Steve Buscemi is way more flawed than Rob or Enid combined, and I don't understand his actions at all. I don't get why he had to do the things he did, and I don't think he was right in any of his actions. And yet, when he is being confronted or tested, I'm always rooting for him. I always want him to get away, and I sometimes want him to get what he wants. I want his to get his love back, even though he definitely doesn't deserve her. So why? Why is he so likeable? Why am I rooting for him?

I'm sure there's a deeper and more profound reason here, but I'm gonna go with the fact that it's Steve Buscemi, and the fact that he is such a classic underdog makes him so tolerable and allows us to sympathize. I hated him a little, but I wanted him to be okay so bad. And I love it when movies toy with my emotions like that.

Sidenote — Why is it that seventeen year old, confused lost girl always have a tendency to be attracted to him in films? Trees Lounge, Ghost World, Nancy's Life - The Movie... what's next?

A drink for a hug. Come on. It's a good deal. Steve, you know I think it's creepy when you sneak in my room through the heating vents. "...wha... this is Trees Lounge... why is Cher here?"

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• How Tommy dances??
• His impersonations
• In the scene where the old man orders a drink, there's ice in the first shot and not in the second one.
• THAT GUY FROM GROUNDED FOR LIFE!

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

I dug the song at the end of the credits. I'm pretty sure it's called 'Trees Lounge', as those were the first words.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

Steve Buscemi once was an actual ice cream truck driver on the streets where his character is shown driving such a truck.

The actual bar in Valley Stream LI had changed its name and redecorated by the time this movie came out. For the sound track cover set designers came out and made it look like the old Trees Lounge in its heyday and then when the photo shoot was over, re-hung the new sign for the current pub.

Groovy Quotes

Marie: You don't go to work every day. You go to a bar every day.

Tommy: He's a little old man. Can't you take some of the wrinkles out? You've given birth to Mr. Magoo.

Tommy: No, Jerry is all right. Saved my life once.
Debbie: What, he was gonna kill you but he changed his mind?

Vic: You're a weak man.
Tommy: Yeah, I know. That's why I drink it straight. The ice cubes are too heavy.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Feeling Minnesota
• subUrbia
• Leaving Las Vegas