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 sucks when you have to analyse it for school, btw paul dies at the end

The casting for this movie was terrible but would have been fine for a stage production. If viewed that way it's very enjoyable but a no-name cast could have made it fly. Shame on the producers for thinking it needed help. Hurt intermittently affects an inner city accent which is somewhere between south Boston and south Bronx putting it squarely in the Atlantic Ocean. Channing is not slutty enough, probably because she doesn't try to be. Keitel coasts through his role but is never really the guide his character might be. All of the characters come across as more sophisticated than what credibility demands. It is their individual stories and their interaction which should elevate them but the director has taken that step away from us - and it shouldn't have been. I still gave it a 7 because it is a good story.

I am taking a course at Athabasca University, and 'Smoke' is one of the movies. I was told the movie is about stories and how they shape and fade like smoke. There are 6 characters and each sub story intertwines with the other story creating the movie. Each story like the character Auggie's photography around his store tell of the progression of time. As each story unravels the viewer sees a flat character develop into a round character, with complexities and dualities. One sees the camera pan in to close ups as the viewer begins to know each character better. The message of the Christmas story is the thesis for movie. If the Christmas story is true or not or exaggerated the main theme of a good story is to be entertaining and bring joy to life. This film does such. Entertaining 6 or 7 out of 10 depending on what mood the viewers in. Bad mood a 6 and 7 in a good mood.