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MOVIES / ON DVD / SMOKERS ONLY
Smokers Only

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Smokers Only (2002)

15%
20%
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15 %
Reviews Counted: 13 Fresh: 2  Rotten:11 Average Rating: 3.5/10
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 87 mins
Theatrical Release: Dec 20, 2002 Limited
Synopsis:
Ennui-ridden singer Reni (Cecilia Bengolea) falls in love with handsome young street hustler Andrés (Leonardo Brezicki) in this artsy film from Argentine director Veronica Chen. Reni first spies Andrés servicing a male client in the ATM kiosk where he does most of his business (the... [More]
Ennui-ridden singer Reni (Cecilia Bengolea) falls in love with handsome young street hustler Andrés (Leonardo Brezicki) in this artsy film from Argentine director Veronica Chen. Reni first spies Andrés servicing a male client in the ATM kiosk where he does most of his business (the homoerotic scenes are captured mainly via the bank's security camera). They become friends and together wander the Buenos Aires streets, philosophizing, striking disaffected poses, and eventually falling into bed together. Reni tries being a prostitute herself but she isn't as enthralled with getting paid as Andrés. Eventually this comes between them. Argentine director Veronica Chen also wrote and edited the film, which achieves an almost abstract sense of beauty at times via extreme slow-motion shots of Andrés wandering the neon-drenched avenidas--standing, rollerblading, and waiting to hustle and or be hustled. Lovers of international art films will enjoy the philosophical, faux-Godardian attitude and dissonant, heavily percussive score. Frequent shots of the attractive leads lounging around in their underwear provides extra sex appeal, and may invite comparisons to the films of Larry Clark and the advertisements of Calvin Klein. [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Cecilia Bengolea, Leonardo Brezicki, Carlos Issa, Fernando Moumdjian, Juan Martin Ibero

Director: Veronica Chen
Screenwriter: Veronica Chen

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 22, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Stereo - English

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12/06/05 07:49 PM
Film Threat
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No review available.

| Comment
09/13/05 01:04 PM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
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A venturesome, beautifully realized psychological mood piece that reveals its first-time feature director's understanding of the expressive power of the camera.

Full Review | Comment
01/30/03 06:36 PM
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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The characters are never more than sketches ... which leaves any true emotional connection or identification frustratingly out of reach.

Full Review | Comment
01/30/03 02:29 PM
Mark Olsen
L.A. Weekly
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Chen films the resolutely downbeat Smokers Only with every indulgent, indie trick in the book.

Full Review | Comment
01/08/03 08:16 AM
David Noh
Film Journal International
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Humorless, self-conscious art drivel, made without a glimmer of intelligence or invention.

Full Review | Comment
01/08/03 08:16 AM
Tim Merrill
Film Threat
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The film's hackneyed message is not helped by the thin characterizations, nonexistent plot and pretentious visual style.

Full Review | Comment
12/23/02 06:10 PM
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
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A sleek advert for youthful anomie that never quite equals the sum of its pretensions.

Full Review | Comment
12/20/02 06:14 PM
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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What a piece of hack work.

Full Review | Comment
12/20/02 06:10 PM
E! Online
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Though its atmosphere is intriguing ... the drama is finally too predictable to leave much of an impression.

Full Review | Comment
12/19/02 07:14 PM
Dave Kehr
New York Times
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Ah, the travails of metropolitan life! Alas, another breathless movie about same!

Full Review | Comment
12/17/02 01:45 PM
Nick Rutigliano
Village Voice
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08/28/02 08:09 AM
Reel.com
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The leads are so unmemorable, despite several attempts at lengthy dialogue scenes, that one eventually resents having to inhale this gutter romancer's secondhand material.

Full Review | Comment
08/27/02 06:51 PM
David Hunter
Hollywood Reporter
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