The most precious things are lighter than air.
Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.
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Character
Contemplative, contemporary, earnest and prestige.
- contemplativerelentless
- contemporarynostalgic
- earnestironic
- unpretentiousprestige
- sparerichly built
Who loves it, who doesn't
18 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Thrill Chasers.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is Paul Benjamin the real protagonist?”
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“Is this Wayne Wang's best work?”
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“Is Smoke too earnest?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Jun 20235/10
**A set of stories, more than a story made up of stories.** This film reminded me, in a certain way, of a polite version of “Clerks”, an unorthodox comedy where everything revolves around a convenience store, a video club and two employees from those same stores. Here, everything revolves around Auggie Wren's tobacconist, who takes a picture of the shop every day, at the same time. In one of them, by chance, the deceased wife of one of the store's customers appears who, after being saved from being run over by a boy, decides to help him. The film is discreet, does not have great cinematography resources, nor visuals. Everything here revolves around the characters, their individual stories, the way they intersect and interconnect. The script is very important for the film, but the work of the actors cannot be overlooked either. Harvey Keitel does a very worthy and well-executed job, and William Hurt, Harold Perrineau and Forest Whitaker follow him closely, so we have a good cast working hard. The big problem with this movie is that it really doesn't have much more to offer. For those who like films that are very much based on characters, their behavior, their stories, and well-writt
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Cast
- Harvey KeitelAugustus 'Auggie' Wren
- William HurtPaul Benjamin
- Stockard ChanningRuby McNutt
- Harold PerrineauThomas 'Rashid' Cole
- Forest WhitakerCyrus Cole
- Giancarlo Esposito1st OTB Man / Tommy
- José Zúñiga2nd OTB Man / Jerry
- Stephen GevedonOTB Man #3 / Dennis
- Jared HarrisJimmy Rose
- Ashley JuddFelicity
Crew
- Wayne WangDirector
- Paul AusterWriter
- Adam HolenderDirector of Photography
- Rachel PortmanOriginal Music Composer
- Christopher TellefsenEditor
- Maysie HoyEditor
- Hisami KuroiwaProducer
- Peter NewmanProducer
- Kenzo HorikoshiProducer
Where to watch
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Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
