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John Turturro is hoping his movie Romance & Cigarettes is really going to make it this time. The indie musical about working-class neighbors in Queens who sing classic pop songs as an escape was a festival darling in 2005, but it’s only now getting an American release. “I feel like Odysseus,” Turturro told the audience at last night’s premiere of the flick. “Our little boat lost its way, and it’s finally found its way home.” Sweet and surprising, the movie has perhaps the funniest sex scene of the decade, with Kate Winslet spewing the most astonishing obscenities as a tarty underwear salesgirl having an affair with a married construction worker, played by James Gandolfini. “She just started making things up,” said Turturro. However the film fares here, Italians, at least, love it. Flying back from a trip to Naples, Turturro said, his e-ticket got lost in the system. Then ticket guy recognized him. “You made Romance & Cigarettes, no? Buonissimo! I get you your ticket.” Then his fellow ticket guy jumped in. “Yeah, but I hear you’re having a lot of trouble in America.” —Jada Yuan
Bonus Party Lines: John Turturro on dancing, Bobby Cannavale on singing, Susan Sarandon and Bebe Neuwirth on their worst jobs, and Aida Turturro on her underwear, plus lots more, at our Romance & Cigarettes Interactive Party Lines.
