
Things aren't going so well for Tommy Basilio. He lost his job because he "borrowed" money from the register, his girlfriend left him for his boss and is now pregnant, and he can't find work because of the incident. His life revolves around the Trees Lounge, a neighborhood bar over which he lives, full of the colorful eccentrics one finds in such places, like the estranged husband, or the old boozer drinking himself to death. He drunkenly wanders through his life, still in lo... (Full plot summary below)
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Things aren't going so well for Tommy Basilio. He lost his job because he "borrowed" money from the register, his girlfriend left him for his boss and is now pregnant, and he can't find work because of the incident. His life revolves around the Trees Lounge, a neighborhood bar over which he lives, full of the colorful eccentrics one finds in such places, like the estranged husband, or the old boozer drinking himself to death. He drunkenly wanders through his life, still in love with his ex, desperate for some sort of meaning beyond the bar, some sort of meaning to his life.
Leave your thoughts about Trees Lounge.
| Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanTrees Lounge is so deft, funny, and light-handed it may not be until the film’s shattering final image that you realize you’ve been watching one of the most lived-in portraits of an alcoholic ever made. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIf anybody ever wrote a Field Guide to Alcoholics, with descriptions of their appearance, sexual behavior and habitats, there would be a full-color portrait on the cover of Tommy, the hero of Trees Lounge. |
| The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsUbiquitous screen presence Steve Buscemi makes an impressive writing/directing debut in this depiction of small-town alcoholism. |
| The New York TimesStephen HoldenTrees Lounge is not much more than a jumble of beautifully acted sketches that introduce the characters in Tommy's world. |
| Boston GlobeJay CarrThe film’s virtues are modest, but Buscemi has come out on top by taking on people and a place he clearly knows inside out. |
| Juicy CerebellumAlex SandellBetter-than-solid directorial debut from Buscemi. |
| St. Louis Post-DispatchHarper BarnesBuscemi is after a slice of life with a grown-up slacker. The trouble is that, in the end, this isn't terribly interesting. |
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleBuscemi eschews the conventional and ends "Trees Lounge" on a stranger, more tantalizing note. |
| Los Angeles TimesJack MathewsTrees Lounge gives the appearance of being slight, spontaneous, and effortless. It would be easy to write off Buscemi's maiden effort as a serendipitous fluke, but just like that squirrely face of his, you know that surface values are merely the outer layer. |
| Washington PostDesson ThomsonThe movie is bracing, bleak and funny, assuming you can appreciate the comedy in a story full of lowlifes, lushes and losers. |