895. Smoke

Smoke
1995
Directed by Paul Auster and Wayne Wang

Paul Auster is heavily featured on the 1001 Book List; I think six of his novels were chosen (whereas Balzac only has three, which is strange to me).  So far I have only read Mr. Vertigo, which was wonderfully weird.  I was actually surprised by how normal this film turned out to be.  Surprised and a little disappointed.

Basically, the film follows the stories of several different characters who are loosely connected by a Brooklyn smoke shop.  This seems to be a style that was used a lot in the nineties, although at least this film kept it under two hours.  I suppose the initiating event is when a homeless teenager saves an author from being hit by a car.

Sorry for another vague description.  A few of the plot lines could be wrapped up in a sentence, so I wanted to avoid going into too much detail and ruining the very few twists.  I actually found this film to be incredibly predictable, which was rather unfortunate, although I suppose this is a movie you watch for the dialogue, not the plot.  I could definitely tell a novelist had written the dialogue, as it was sometimes a bit too odd to sound realistic.

But I am being a bit too harsh.  The film features some great actors, including Forest Whitaker, Ashley Judd, Harvey Keitel, Stockard Channing, and William Hurt.  It was well paced and overall worth a watch, but I am afraid it didn't leave much of an impression.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Forest Whitaker is only two years older than Harold Perrineau, who plays his son.