Taglines: A story about one man’s search… for who knows what.
Trees Lounge movie storyline. 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.
Trees Lounge is a 1996 feature film and the debut of Steve Buscemi as writer and director. 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 “Pine Barrens” and three other episodes of the show, and to star as Tony Soprano’s cousin Tony Blundetto during the show’s fifth season. It was filmed in Glendale, Queens; Brooklyn; and Valley Stream, New York.
Trees Lounge (1996)
Directed by: Steve Buscemi
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Mark Boone Junior, Anthony LaPaglia, Elizabeth Bracco, Eszter Balint, Carol Kane, Daniel Baldwin, Mimi Rogers, Debi Mazar
Screenplay by: Steve Buscemi
Production Design by: Steve Rosenzweig
Cinematography by: Lisa Rinzler
Film Editing by: Kate Williams
Costume Design by: Mari-An Ceo
Set Decoration by: Lisa Kent
Art Direction by: Jennifer Alex Nickason
Music by: Evan Lurie, Hayden
MPAA Rating: R for plentiful strong language and some drug content.
Distributed by: Orion Classics
Release Date: October 11, 1996
Hits: 113
