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Amazon.co.uk Review
It's refreshing to see a film in which the writer receives equal credit with the director, showing that the dialogue actually means something. So it is with Smoke, a film about a New York quilt of contemporary characters who cross paths in a corner smoke shop, told in straightforward way by a talented acting group. Author Paul Auster and director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club) worked on the story for years before it reached the screen. Their characters include Paul (William Hurt, in a good role again), a grief-stricken novelist; Auggie (Harvey Keitel), the shop's owner with a secret passion; Ruby (Stockard Channing), Auggie's long-ago girlfriend; and Rashid (Harold Perrineau Jr), a teenager who is befriended by Paul and seeks his estranged father (Forest Whitaker). All the characters are great storytellers, whether it be out of loneliness, necessity or just nature. Like Auster's The Music of Chance, the film has accomplished an amazing feat: it makes us feel as if we are reading a serious novel, not watching a movie. --Doug Thomas
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THOUGHTFUL ENTERTAINMENT: Excellent Keitel/Hurt pas de deux,
By F. Sweet (Midwestern USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Smoke [DVD] [1996] (DVD)
This is the kind of off beat film that begins far away from its main point. So in a sense, it takes you on a journey. Especially, if you've grown up in very large urban centers where there were local neighborhoods with ancient, musty old small stores run by engaging proprietors this scene and story will resonate with you. But even if you did not enjoy the benefits of New York City's inner city, many of the characters can be similarly identified in daily rural life in Arkansas.
The grizzled and contemplative cigar store proprietor Auggie Wren is masterfully played by Harvey Keitel. He plays a man hanging on to his business while trying to sqeeze out of the dreariness of each day some kind of meaningful life. He doesn't go out to meet life ... it comes to meet him in his cigar store. A customer and not quite neighborhood friend played to its understated fullest by William Hurt, is a formerly celebrated novelist Paul now struggles with his tragic life and getting back to writing. The thread which connects the action is pulled through the film by a street wise teenage "black kid" calling himself "Rashid" is very well acted by Harold Perrineau Jr. Everyone is searching for something in SMOKE. Rashid, his father; Paul his lost interest in life; and Auggie his lost meaning of life. Not all of the movie takes place in the cigar store ... b ut a lot of it does, and perhaps like Hitchcock in REAR WINDOW or THE ROPE, the photography and direcrting make it work. But there are many other scenes on sites to provide both variety and action. This film not only works it is a terrific journey that promises to take you through many ideas and situations that are familiar and some bizarre. But they are always interesting and enjoyable. That's what entertainment is about. It is a good idea to see this movie in a settled-in-for-the-night state. Full enjoyment in it requires attention that inevitably gives way to immersion. I agree with those reviewers who wrote that at least Keitel and the screen adaptation of this film earned its 1995 Academy Award nominations. See for yourself.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you only watch one more film, make it this one!,
By Billy (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Smoke [DVD] [1996] (DVD)
I'm going to find it very difficult to express in words how much this film means to me; not because of any deep, personal involvment, but simply becasue it is so utterly watchable. This is one of those offbeat, quirky little films that simply blows you away, without you knowing why or how exactly. Keitel and Hurt's performances are wonderfully subtle and underplayed, and I found it was the little, irrelevant things that fasinated me so - such as the way Hurt's character draws his little Dutch cigars through his lips before lighting it, and the fact that Auggie (Keitel's character), despite being a cigar connoisseur, smokes simple filter cigarettes.
This film won't appeal to all, but if you like your American films to come with a little less 'Crash, Bang, Whallop!' and a bit more intelligence, then you just have to buy this dvd.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Art Of Storytelling,
This review is from: Smoke [VHS] [1996] (VHS Tape)
This film is all about the storytelling. It deserves to be a bigger film than it was because it doesn't need to rely on explosions and action to be great. Its mainly due to the superb script which was written by some dude who i've never seen one of his other movies or even heard of any. But when you got 3 of hollywoods finest in the cast (Harvey Kietel, William Hurt & Forest Whitaker) then your always gonna end up with a film of the highest standards. If your looking for something that you can follow, that relys more on its story and its characters, then this is just about as good as it gets. recommended viewing.
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