Directed by Steve Buscemi
* * * ½
Independent cinema tends to
bring out the most intimately (and sometimes discomfortingly) personal of
movies. After all, aspiring indie auteurs are advised time and time again to
“write [about] what they know”, and every once in a while a filmmaker takes
this advice to the deepest level of heart with a deeply personal story,
bringing us into a world they know front to back, painting themselves in less
than flattering portraits. It is this kind of fearless moviemaking that makes
independent cinema so compelling and exciting. Having already made a name for
himself in the indie world with Reservoir
Dogs and Fargo, actor Steve
Buscemi decided to go full auteur with his 1996 directorial debut, Trees Lounge, an honest portrait of an
alcoholic.
Tommy (Buscemi) is in his
early 30s, unemployed, and recently single after Theresa (Elizabeth Bracco)
left him for his ex-boss, whom she is now married to and expecting a child with
(though it could be Tommy’s child she’s carrying). So, Tommy finds himself
retreating to the solace of alcohol at local pub Trees Lounge – when we first
meet him, he is sprawled out on a booth. The bartender has to wake him up so
the joint can close for the evening. Well-known around town, people look on with
a sort of irritated amusement at Tommy’s inability to straighten anything out.
If only he could stop drinking. Or, in Tommy’s world, if only he could get some
direction – then he could stop
drinking.
But, life must go on, and we
bear witness to his daily activities. Along with the frequencies of Trees
Lounge, we watch his various daily activities, from his car problems, scoring a
gig as an ice cream truck driver, and his countless interactions with fellow
Trees Lounge regulars, many of whom seem totally different from Tommy on a
superficial level, but when one looks deeper, they are curiously (and
alarmingly) similar.
Watching Trees Lounge a second time for this retrospect/review, I just now
realized how many notes Buscemi must have jotted down from the many filmmaking
lessons of indie grandfather John Cassavetes. Trees Lounge is by no means a plot-driven film, but rather an
observation of the daily behaviors of average people with a screw or two loose,
and the result is an awkward and uncomfortable audience, which is the point:
when such outrageous behaviors are examined in such an objective light, we
don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
We bear witness to the almost
immediate tendency alcoholics have to fight somebody who confronts their
behavior in any way. We are forced to endure awkward family interactions and
the arguments that sometimes ensue (regardless of who else may be present). In
a climactic scene, we watch a (rightfully) angry father chase Tommy through a
baseball field with no regard to the Little League match going on.
I have probably made Trees Lounge sound more bleak and
depressing than it actually is – after all, I did compare it to the works of
Cassavetes. I assure you, though, that it’s not nearly as tough a film as it
sounds. To be quite honest, it has a couple of moments of laugh-out-loud
comedy, particularly when Tommy lands a gig as an ice cream truck driver.
Earlier, I mentioned that Trees Lounge is an honest portrait of an
alcoholic. Films of themes like addiction and substance abuse can annoy me from
time to time, as they tend to over-indulge in the misery that its characters
endure – this is the primary reason I refrain from including Requiem for a Dream in my ‘Great
Favorites’. One of the qualities I admire most about Trees Lounge is its awareness that this world isn’t insufferable
misery from front-to-back. Take Tommy for instance. He’s not a terrible person,
and deep down he has the best of intentions. The best way to describe him; he
was once the life of the party, but that party has long since ended, something
that he still can’t quite come to terms with, a common pattern I’ve noticed
with alcoholics.
But I think the greatest
strength in Trees Lounge is its
depiction of the cycle of bar fly culture. Into Tommy’s life walks Debbie
(Chloe Sevigny), Theresa’s 17-year-old niece. I see her not so much as
flirtatious, but rather curious of the world around her (as children tend to
be) – a world that, in truth, is quite small. The setting of the film walks an
almost surreal line between small town and big city, and we spend so much time
at Trees Lounge that it quickly begins to feel like that that’s all there is to
do in town. Debbie spends time with Tommy and co (complete with drinking and
other such vices), almost like she’s the new invitee to the party that Tommy
has been stuck in for who knows how long.
Something like a relationship develops between Tommy and Debbie, and I give
Buscemi major credit for actually putting a complex dynamic on screen. Yes,
Tommy is taking advantage of Debbie’s 17-year-old naiveté, but the film doesn’t
apologize or criticize for his actions, but simply understands where it comes
from. It is no secret that Tommy wants some sort of companionship (especially
after a breakup with somebody he was very close to), but his own peers are
pretty much inaccessible at this point – everybody knows he’s a screw-up. But
here comes Debbie, somebody who takes interest and a liking to Tommy, and she’s
been cloistered enough to not know the screw-up that Tommy actually is. Once
again, fearless filmmaking on Buscemi’s part.
All this said, there are some
weaknesses in Trees Lounge. I
compared this to the works of Cassavetes. While the influence shines
flatteringly bright, it is clear that Buscemi was not completely interested in
going all the way as far as that style is concerned. Part of what made the
works of Cassavetes so compelling is just how long scenes would linger, from
literal beginning to end. It gives viewers to settle into the scene and feel
like they’re right there, and then all of this awkward drama kicks off out of
nowhere. This hyper-realism makes the experience all the more discomforting for
the viewer. As for Buscemi; this is where he falls a little short as his scenes
are primarily concerned with hitting the key points and moving on to the next
scene. All this said, Trees Lounge does
have very smooth pacing.
Also, the way some characters
are handled in the story feels kind of awkward from time to time. I find Debbie
to be a perfect example; we don’t meet her until somewhere around the end of
the first act, and all she does is exchange a look with Tommy, and then we
don’t meet back up with her for a while. When she does show up, we find out
that there’s somewhat of a history between them (her being his ex-girlfriend’s
niece and all). It’s this kind of handling that proves detrimental.
But, I digress. It’s wonderful
to see how far Steve Buscemi has come in the film world as one of the most
respected and recognizable American actors in the industry, but it stuns me
that Trees Lounge isn’t known as well
as it should be (especially considering the cult following Buscemi has). Cinema
in the ‘90s was known for a massive wave of indie films. Perhaps Trees Lounge just got caught up in a sea
of thousands (in spite of very positive reception), but it has aged
exceptionally well – to the point of timelessness – and stands the test of time
as a remarkable debut of an actor-turned-director.
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