Smoke

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Cast & Crew

William Hurt
Paul Benjamin

Harvey Keitel
Augustus 'Auggie' Wren

Harold Perrineau
Thomas 'Rashid' Cole

Forest Whitaker
Cyrus Cole

Victor Argo
Vinnie

Erica Gimpel
Doreen Cole

Clarice Taylor
Grandma Ethel

Malik Yoba
The Creeper

Mary B. Ward
April Lee

Jared Harris
Jimmy Rose

Giancarlo Esposito
Tommy

Mel Gorham
Violet

Stockard Channing
Ruby McNutt

Wayne Wang
Director

John Landis
Director

Paul Auster
Writer

Robert K. Weiss
Producer

Robert E. Collins
Cinematographer

Adam Holender
Cinematographer

George Folsey Jr.
Film Editor

Mike Hanks
Casting

Rick Harvel
Art Direction

Peter Schindler
First Assistant Director

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Critic Reviews for Smoke

Audience Reviews for Smoke

• Mar 04, 2013

  Paul Benjamin: if you're gonna die, what's more important, a good smoke or a good book. So he smoked his book. "Where there's smoke... there's laughter!" Smoke is a very good movie and wasn't quite what I was expecting. I'm not too familiar with Wayne Wang's work, only having seen Anywhere But Here before, but I was thoroughly impressed with this film. What we have here is basically an unstructured story, which was extremely popular in the nineties, centered around a cigar store in Brooklyn. The story follows a variety of characters from the cigar store owner, one of his customers, a young kid, an unknown father, and a woman from the past. It all melts together really well. This isn't a film for anyone. It's a conversational movie that has a lot of long monologues and storytelling, but for fans of these type of movies, it's heaven. I can't really think of better actors for the movie either. The main two, Harvey Keitel and William Hurt give terrific performances as always.  Smoke is a movie for the person who likes quiet movies that stay away from action and bullshit, that remain real and are just telling the story of human beings. That's what this is to me and that's why I like this movie, and movies like it so much. There's nothing flashy about the characters, there's no big twists, no action to speak of; it's just real life. Smoke blends comedy and drama together really well as well. It's too bad that this isn't a more well known film, but in the end it doesn't really matter. A great film is a great film.
  Melvin W Super Reviewer
• Oct 11, 2012

  There is a scene where Harvey Keitel does a monologue that goes on for what seems like ten minutes. The camera is still and all we are doing is watch a man talk. Nonetheless, it is brilliant..and that is only one part of this film.
  

  John B Super Reviewer
• Dec 02, 2011

  Reminiscent of some of Jim Jarmusch's work, "Smoke" is an incredibly touching motion picture that focuses on the lives of several different people. However, it does not connect them through action or circumstance like "Crash" or "Magnolia", but rather meanders between each of its characters and allows them just to... "talk". Simple as that. As a whole, the "talking" doesn't add up to much of anything, but individually, it speaks volumes. Not only is "Smoke" a magnificent character study, but a genuinely heartwarming movie. It leaves you delighted and deep in thought, reflecting upon past life experiences. When a film has the power to make you do that, you know it's good.
  Stephen E Super Reviewer
• Mar 14, 2010

  Literary film about a group of people, centred around a New York tobacconist and scripted by Paul Auster. You can tell an author wrote the script as there's lots of monologues and both Harvey Keitel and William Hurt get to tell stories during the film. All very erudite.
  Lesley N Super Reviewer

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