Tommy Basilio is an alcoholic and fixture at a local bar, the Trees Lounge, who loses his girlfriend of eight years and his job as a mechanic. After his Uncle Al dies while driving his ice cream truck, Tommy goes to his wake and indulges in cocaine with his brother and cousins. Tommy takes them to the Trees Lounge to carry on drinking, but a brawl breaks out between his cousin and Mike, another regular. After buying more beer at a late night convenience store, Mike and Tommy discuss how Tommy stole money from Rob, the owner of the garage where he lost his job. They discuss how Rob is seeing Tommy's ex-girlfriend, Theresa, who may or may not be bearing his child. Mike turns out to be the owner of the moving company across the street from the Trees Lounge. Tommy asks for work, but Mike says he doesn't need a mechanic. Tommy takes on Uncle Al's ice-cream round, but children initially do not buy from him. Theresa's flirtatious seventeen-year-old niece, Debbie, joins Tommy on his round, saying she had a dream about him. Mike's wife and daughter have left him because of his drinking, and tell him they plan to move upstate. Debbie and friend Kelly go to the Trees Lounge but are unable to prove they are of legal drinking age. Debbie claims her "boyfriend" Tommy will vouch for her. Mike, Tommy and the two girls are at Mike's house drinking, but the latter three are thrown out when Mike's wife calls. Tommy and Debbie spend the night together, though nothing happens between them more than a drunken kiss. The following morning, Tommy runs into Debbie's father Jerry, who was looking for her the night before. When Jerry finds out his daughter was with Tommy, he assaults him with a baseball bat and wrecks the ice-cream truck. After Theresa has her baby, Tommy tries and fails to make amends. When Tommy returns to the Trees Lounge, he hears that an elderly regular named Bill collapsed has been taken to hospital gravely ill. The barmaid and other regulars discuss how someone ought to visit Bill in the hospital, but they forget about him as they carry on drinking. Tommy sits in Bill's regular seat and stares at the glass of beer, realizing what he has become.
Trees Lounge's critical consensus remains highly positive; it has garnered an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, stating "Steve Buscemi, who plays Tommy and also wrote and directed the film, knows about alcoholism from the inside out and backward, and his movie is the most accurate portrait of the daily saloon drinker I have ever seen."
Accolades
Trees Lounge earned Buscemi nominations for Best First Screenplay as well as Best First Feature at the 1997 Independent Spirit Awards, though it didn't win.
