Buscemi's Ode to Valley Stream

TREES LOUNGE (1996)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Originally written in 2002)

"Trees Lounge" is the story of Tommy, an unemployed drunk who flirts with the ladies and lives in a depressing small town on Long Island, New York. He can't find work as an auto mechanic so he starts driving an ice-cream truck after the owner dies of a heart attack (played by veteran Seymour Cassel). Tommy can't help but drink himself to a stupor at the Trees Lounge bar where he maintains an apartment upstairs. Night after night, he drowns himself in disillusionment with his friends. Tommy's life might have some meaning, though, when he has a brief dalliance with a teenager who can't inhale cigarettes, Debbie (Chloe Sevigny). Problem is she's too young and her father, Jerry (a terrifyingly funny Daniel Baldwin) may just kill  Tommy if he finds out.

The movie is packed with a great cast of actors including an old drunk David Lynch-type named Billy (Bronson Dudley) who continually stares into space; the fat drunk moving company owner, Mr. Hyde (Mark Boone Jr.); Tommy's old and pregnant flame, Theresa (Elizabeth Bracco); Chloe Sevigny as the aforementioned ingenue who enjoys going for a ride in Tommy's ice-cream truck; and Tommy's former angry employer, Rob (Anthony LaPaglia) who is Theresa's husband.

Most of all, it is Steve Buscemi who makes a big impression as writer, director and star of an exuberantly 

fresh and wonderfully made sleeper. His rat-like features and skeleton body underlie a deeply troubled soul 

searching for some escape from this town. At its best, "Trees Lounge" looks and feels like a depressing smalltown where life continues to go on, even if its inhabitants do not.                                               

It is time that the Academy Awards recognize the talent of independent spirits like Steve Buscemi (as of 2002, they still haven't). If Hollywood hasn't learned the sad truth yet, it's that quantity isn't everything.