From the quirkiest of the quirky, Steve Buscemi premieres his first film with a nuclear blast. The cast, which most have gone on to really big films, all artfully create the character study which is what Tree's Lounge really happens to be. Each cast member should be awarded an Oscar for how real they portray this sad set of characters. Like a step into the daily wrongness of a typical craphole which can be anywhere in the USA, Buscemi's breakout performance as the alcoholic ice cream man captures a rawness of how a man can be degraded so swiftly in the morays and questionable social structures that permeate our culture. Brilliantly written, Buscemi makes the assumption of just how relationships are all based in fear and the fact of this fear is why the characters act out and react as they do throughout this film but as we all do in the real world as well. When looking for a slice of life that reminds us just how not to be, Tree's Lounge is the perfect example. This film is a triumph.