Smoke (1995)

If you were ever to imagine Harvey Keitel if he'd never acted, this is what he would be doing. The quintessential "cool", Harvey is at his most human in this role as a cigar shop owner in Brooklyn. Showing his tender side, he has hired a 'slow, mentally impaired' local from the neighborhood to sweep the pavement. His shop is a place where people with a revolving interest of Cigars, go to hang out and talk about life, love, and bullshit. It is the epicentral natural dialogue through which each character speaks that makes this movie so warm, humorous, and incredible. A great movie, 5 stars all around. -Al

Fmovies: SMOKE is a beautiful movie about nothing at all and at the same time about everything. I don´t even know how to describe it to someone, i guess it´s undescribable. It´s one of those rare movies that it has to be felt. If you don´t feel it, then you are missing the whole point. SMOKE is one of those rare movies which we don´t know how to recommend this to our friends, because it´s so original and simple that there is nothing to describe. Anything we might say ,it only will give the illusion this is an shallow or boring movie. SMOKE is not an adventure, not a drama, not a comedy, not a cops movie, not an action movie, so what it´s about ?!! It´s about life. But in a real way, and surprisingly not boring.

This movie is very similar to Luc Besson´s - Le Gran Bleu (The Big Blue). The story it has nothing to do with it, but it´s a movie to also be felt.

This is an actors movie, and they all do an incredible job. Sometimes they make us want to go to New York and go talk with them. Then we remember that they are not real, and we wished they were. Harvey Keitel and William Hurt are perfect in their characters and it´s a joy to watch them act. The movie could be only both of them talking to to each other, that it would still be a great and not boring movie.

This is a very well writen, acted and directed script, and we don´t find many of this everyday. And it has a fantastic soundtrack also that fits perfectly in the story. The final scenes with a Tom Waits song are realy poetic. The music almost becomes a character in the movie.

Beautiful, beautiful movie. Unmissable !

By the way, if you can, watch the "sequel" also, because it´s as good as the original. It´s called "Blue in the face". Don´t miss it.

SMOKE is a magnificent movie.

I'll try to make this short and sweet. This is simply one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. Even the credits can't be missed. Harvey Keitel and William Hurt are just unbelievable. Ashley Judd makes you want to kill her. There are so many gems in this movie you would think it came from a South African diamond mine. This is NOT to be missed. It's sort of a non-linear Quentin Tarantino format without the violence. Several great stories spun by a master. Two words: SEE IT.

Smoke fmovies. Never before have I seen such everyday people brought to the screen in such a believable and moving way. Wang has translated Auster's story brilliantly, playing the silent observer among some great scenes where Kietel, Hurt and Perrineau shine with the dialog they are given.

This movie is slow, but it is an excellent account of how people relate to each other and behave under strained times. Hurt's character is beautifully constructed, surrounded by others who each have their own interesting story.

Its companion piece, 'Blue in the Face' is funny, but strays in a different direction. I would like to see more of these types of movies made; they explore so much, so expertly, with so little.

I'm a guy whose favourite films are 'Star Wars', 'Superman' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. But this film is such a surprise and a stand out in today's mundane slew of films that for me, I couldn't ignore it. I can't recommend this film more strongly.

Wayne Wang's "Smoke" is one of those perfect little movies that knows not to aim any higher than it needs to. Like Mike Leigh's "Life is Sweet" a few years back, it closely observes the day-to-day lives of a handful of people, in this case the patrons of and workers in a Brooklyn cigar shop, and leaves it at that. Don't expect The Moral to come creeping into the dialogue; the fact that the lives of Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel, in another example of why he's the best actor working today) and his friends are compelling IS the point. Writer Paul Auster, basing his script on his op-ed story in The New York Times, keeps on chugging out smartly-written people even up to the seventh and eighth character. It's a rare treat to have an ensemble movie in which there isn't a single weak performance, and even rarer to have one supported by writing and directing that are up to the task. All of these elements come together come together in "Smoke," an artful story about the art of storytelling.

"you'll never get it if you don't slow down my friend"

"you're going too fast"

"you're hardly looking at the pictures"

"Slow down, huh?"

Chill. Forget special effects. Story. Basic. Classic.