Captivating movie !

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A textbook in contemporary writing, 'Smoke' tells a simple tale that, much like the photographs of his Brooklyn corner cigar store taken daily by lead character Auggie, as played in a highly nuanced performance by Harvey Keitel, can only be properly understood when one slows down. It is a story about storytelling which breaks down the binaries assumed to be inherent to our understandings of the world, in turn challenging our understandings of truth. Structured like a jazz improvisation having found its freedom by denying a previously established set of rules, the film is about chance, family, race, time, fiction, knowledge, and deception; all of which are pervaded heavily by the overarching forces that characterise life in the city. The ensemble cast lead separate lives that intertwine through their experiences of the city, and the connections they share speak for the struggles we all undergo in our respective searches for identity, meaning, and answers, especially in times when nothing presents itself as being distinctly one way or another. Through this fuzziness, the filters of smoke through which our perceptions are realised, we are exposed to a highly plausible possibility of what could or could not be the true nature of the lenses through which we see, and the language through which we interpret what we see.

It spoiled two evenings, because I couldn't bear to watch it in one go. A real waste of some good actors. Hurt and Keitel do their best with their trite, boring lines, but they have nothing to work with in plot, story and dialog. Most of the other acting is worth a finger down the throat. Especially awful is the little scene with the aunt. She doesn't even qualify to be an understudy in a high school play. The pacing is supposed to be moody, but it's just slow and boring. The story is a lot of sentimental claptrap -- black/white feel-good. I would be considered a liberal, but I could not stomach the smarmy, sickeningly sweet racial aspects. It's clear that all the time wasted "up in smoke" is meant for the movie atmosphere, but it is just obviously juvenile. The writer and director should be staked out on the ground and covered with syrup like this movie and left for the ants. I have usually found some value with movies having a 7 or better, but this one destroys my faith in the IMDb ratings. I suffered to the end because of the 7.6, but next time I'll know better.

To heap praises on Smoke would be a great disservice to its talented directors Wayne Wang,Francophile poet Paul Auster and its eclectic cast of actors of international prominence like Harvey Keitel, Forest Whitaker and William Hurt.This is because it is more than a great film. We know that a great film can neither be defined nor described. A great film like Smoke has to be felt on an individual basis.It cannot be done by those who are near and dear to a viewer.Smoke is a film in which purest of human emotions overflow in every scene. Each gesture made by these great actors is worth millions of pure joys visible only by naked eyes in our daily existence.As a visual document of pristine beauty, Smoke is a beautiful commentary about the greatness of human existence. Its message is loud and clear ; one should smoke joys of human existence as they are undoubtedly more therapeutic then cigarette smoke which is effective only as a good remedy against cold weather.A comment must be made about one of the greatest actors of all times : Harvey Keitel.His portrayal of Augie is likely to bring laughter on your face and tears in your eyes.There are not so many actors who can achieve such a mesmerizing effect.

SMOKE amazes me - I loved it when it first came out and I searched for more of Paul Auster's writings - I found this non-fiction work by him HAND TO MOUTH - about his early days struggling as a writer - it is one of the best books I have ever read. I just rented it again and watched it this Christmas (which is perfect seeing how it ends at Xmas and with Keitel telling the beautiful and true(?) Christmas story) - the film is even better than I remembered. Keitel. Hurt, Whitaker, Channing deliver fantastic performances and Ashley Judd is stunning in her one, angry, venomous scene as Channing's drug addicted daughter. Simple story about a good, smart man who happens to run a Brooklyn Cigar Store and all the individuals who come in and out on a weekly basis - it truly is about wounded people trying to heal and how (even in a harsh, ugly world) one can find peace and beauty.