Written and directed by Steve Buscemi
A fun but bleak portrait of a Long Island loser, Steve Buscemi’s first turn in the director’s chair Trees Lounge stars himself as Tommy, a laid-off car mechanic struggling to find work and sobriety, tormented by the fact his former boss and best friend is now dating his ex-girlfriend of 8 years, and being a better partner than he ever was.
Talk of imposter syndrome usually comes with a disclaimer that the fear of inadequacy is unfounded in the speaker’s case. Tommy’s about to show you how much it stings when that’s not the case.
The Trees Lounge of the title is the local watering hole and the center of Tommy’s universe. He has a go-to order, the bartenders know his name (always a warning sign) and his usual antics. They’ll express annoyance that he won’t leave, but drop a conciliatory “see you tomorrow,” the kind you reserve for your colleagues.
Tommy’s a happy drunk most of the time, still on the up before wine turns to vinegar. Buscemi leans more on his lanky frame than his rubber face for comedic effect, and Tommy’s not short of a quick line or two. That’s what makes him tolerable, even liked, by others, because he at least doesn’t bring the party down and has a self-deprecating streak, just fooling around at the end of the bar.
But make no mistake: the man’s a fuck-up, can’t-win-for-losing kind of loser, drawn to fucking up like the gravity that pulls him to earth. Does he fuck up knowingly, his proclivity for self-destruction combining with his mushy brain, or is it an unknowing compulsion? Hard to know, but there are plenty of men like Tommy out there causing problems for himself and others. A common sad sight, even if there are some laughs to be had along the way.
Buscemi’s movie is a throwback in that it’s one of those movies concerned with real life’s rough existences that doesn’t sink to any extremes to tell its story. You’ve met a Tommy. You’ve met a Mike (Mark Boone Junior), a man whose wife has left him, and left him fearful of the future. You’ve met Debbie (Chloë Sevigny), a 17-year old desperate to be older and vulnerable to attention from men she hasn’t learned to see through yet.
Buscmemi’s characters are authentic and alive on the screen, and the performances vivid and crystal-clear. Trees Lounge is in the same vein as Richard Linklater’s early movies, these ambulating dramas that let their story unfold at its characters’ walking pace. It’s warm to the touch, full of regular folks dealing with their own problems and others’ about as well as the average person can.
What we see in Trees Lounge is the top of Tommy’s slippery slope, even if his foothold is already precarious. Knowing that casts a shadow over everything, yet it’s not in despair like Last Night At The Alamo or Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, bar-centric movies fearful of what comes next.
There’s still daylight, there’s still time. Tommy’s still a part of his family’s life, try as he might to not be, and there are ways for him to come home again. Despite its unassuming nature, it makes Trees Lounge feel like a pivotal moment in a person’s life, the ripples rippling while the credits roll, and it makes Buscemi a director with humanist eye and someone who gives himself and his fellow actors space to express something genuine and compelling.
Mikkel Frederiksen 