A movie about an alcoholic's everyday life. Watched it randomly on tv, and it's good. It's Buscemi's directorial and writer debut and he did a pretty good job. If you like calm movies or if you like Busemi movies, you should watch it.

This movie was interesting. It is about a semi-alcoholic (Buscemi)who throws away his life hanging out at a local bar in a small town outside of New York City. I liked the way he was portrayed of being liked and despised at the same time. The main character obviously came from a well established Italian-American family in the community. So, people know and associate with him, but at the same time are wary of him because he appears to be a "loser". The main character was once a very good mechanic, but lost his job when he stole money from the garage's till. The owner (Lapaglia) is torn. He is guilt-ridden, because not only did he steal the main character's girlfriend, but also is sorry to see his former friend throwing away his life drinking at the local bar. I also like all the supporting cast. There is a great deal of sorrow displayed in this old man, who is obviously beyond hope. When the old man is finally dying, all the locals who pretended to like him at the bar really are discovered to have not cared at all. The things that detracted from the movie was that the main character was immature and irresponsible. It was hard to empathize with a guy who does drugs and sleeps with a seventeen year old girl. In addition, there was a lot of lack of clarity in the film. Who was the main character in relation to the ice cream man who suddenly died. He is obviously treated like a family member, but no explanation is given as to whom he actually is. If someone just said that is "the nephew", it would have resolved a lot of confusion. So, the movie was interesting, but suffered from a lack of empathy for the plight of the main character, and confusion about whom exactly he is. I would have liked to seen more shown to illustrate what led him to where he ended up as.

Some guy loses his girlfriend, his job and now drinks all day in a boring bar. He then inherits an ice cream van from his deceased uncle and drives around the streets half-bored selling sweets.This is a perfect example that illustrates good actors don't necessarily make good films! The characters are weak, the story told a thousand times before and the complete luck of active plot makes the film suitable only for TV on a Sunday afternoon. Buscemi fails to push the actors to their limits resulting in a 'soap opera' style performance which is well below the average. Most of the scenes were pointless and contributed nothing to the film.Trees Lounge could have started straight after Tommy inherited the Van (thirty minutes before the end) and still wouldn't make any difference! If you do end up watching the film just imagine how the film would be like if Tarantino directed it.Better watch TV commercials :(

TREES LOUNGE is a film about Tommy Basilio , an unemployed mechanic who spend most of his time drinking in a bar or snorting drugs . " What`s so compelling about this movie ? " you ask , well I think you`ve hit the nail on the head with that question because there`s nothing really compelling about TREES LOUNGE . It`s a really low concept ( ie character based story ) movie where not much happens . Written , directed and starring Steve Buscemi it feels like one of those indie projects actors come up with now and again to increase their cred with major Hollywood studios and I`m guessing Buscemi ploughed much of his own money into the project so maybe I shouldn`t be too critical !!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!I should perhaps also give some praise to Buscemi for writing a screenplay with an obvious subtext of never getting what you want : Tommy want`s to snort yet more drugs but someone comes into the bathroom , Tommy wants to take a woman he`s picked up in a bar but she falls asleep while he`s in the bathroom , a young kid wants to buy an ice cream but the ice cream man suddenly has a heart attack , so the theme to this movie is very clear . Such a pity realism takes precedence over an exciting plot