| Trees Lounge | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Steve Buscemi |
| Produced by | Brad Wyman Chris Hanley |
| Written by | Steve Buscemi |
| Starring | Steve Buscemi Mark Boone Junior Chloë Sevigny |
| Music by | Evan Lurie Hayden |
| Distributed by | Live Entertainment Orion Classics Pioneer Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | October 11, 1996 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Language | English |
Trees Lounge is the 1996 feature film debut written and directed by Steve Buscemi. It was produced by Brad Wyman and Chris Hanley and features a large ensemble cast of actors, including Buscemi, Anthony LaPaglia, Chloë Sevigny and Samuel L. Jackson. The film's black humor, based on examination of characters' self-destructive behavior, has been cited as an influence by The Sopranos creator David Chase, who later hired Buscemi to direct an episode of the show ("Pine Barrens") and to star as Tony's cousin Tony Blundetto during the show's 5th season.[1][2]
It was filmed in Glendale, Queens, Brooklyn, and Valley Stream, New York.
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The film follows Tommy Basilio (Buscemi), an alcoholic and fixture at the local bar, Trees Lounge, who begins to float after losing his girlfriend and his job as a mechanic. He continues and amplifies patterns of self-destructive behavior, to include a romantic relationship with a friend's teenage daughter (Sevigny).
Trees Lounge earned Buscemi nominations for Best First Screenplay as well as Best First Feature (along with producers Brad Wyman and Chris Wyman) at the 1997 Independent Spirit Awards, though it won neither.
Trees Lounge's critical consensus remains highly positive; it has garnered a 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews (20 positive, 5 negative).[3] Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, stating "Steve Buscemi, who plays Tommy and also wrote and directed the film, knows about alcoholism from the inside out and backward, and his movie is the most accurate portrait of the daily saloon drinker I have ever seen."[4]
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