Trees Lounge is a bar on Long Island regularly visited by alcoholic Tommy, who is constantly down on his luck. He cannot find a job as a car mechanic since he cannot even fix his own car. He is also resentful at his former boss Rob is now dating Tommy's ex-girlfriend Theresa, pregnant in the meantime. Tommy finds a new job as an ice cream truck driver, and becomes friends with 17-year old Debbie. The two spend a night together. The next day, Debbie's dad Jerry scolds her, and since Tommy is elusive, she moves to her cousin's place. Jerry chases after Tommy, thinking he slept with Debbie, and hits him with a bat. Tommy visits Theresa at the maternity ward after she gave birth, and confesses he would have been happy if they remained a couple.
Steve Buscemi's feature length debut film as a director, "Trees Lounge" is a respectable first independent film, a one where he gets a rare chance to play a fully fleshed-out, three-dimensional character, and not just a caricature. By its setting within a bar, through which it observes alcoholic subculture, it reminds of Schroeder's "Barfly", but it takes a different, more sympathetic approach to its main character Tommy, who tries to break out of this circle and take a new life path. It is very episodic, without a clear storyline, featuring several "throw away" cameos from actors such as Samuel L. Jackson or Carol Kane who sometimes barely last two minutes, but it does align into a more engaging last half an hour, when it becomes more emotional. The opening act has a few humorous moments showing Tommy's cynical, snappy personality. For instance, his arguing with his ex-boss Rob, who is now with his ex-girlfriend: "You're being an asshole!" - "At least I know I'm an asshole. Question is, do you know it?" When Rob protests, Tommy continues: "You're an even bigger asshole than me. And if you don't think you are, you're an even bigger asshole than that!" Some episodes are weaker and less interesting, but some are really well done. The subplot in which Tommy drives an ice cream truck, and a 17-year old Debbie suddenly jumps in and sits at the back, to drive with him and chat, is really charming and sweet. Tommy is never idealized: it is left open if he slept with Debbie when she stayed over at his place or not, and he eventually decides to distance himself from her since she is not 18, but then again, he also feels remorse that such a potential love story will be thrown away. This subplot was elaborated in another Buscemi film, the excellent "Ghost World", filmed five years later. As the ending shows, Tommy longs more for the lost opportunity of his ex-girlfriend Theresa, and thus this downbeat finale meditates on fatalism and determinism in people who don't know how to change their life circumstances.
Grade:++
No comments:
Post a Comment