Plot

A Brooklyn smoke shop is the center of neighborhood activity, and the stories of its customers.

The plot of this movie, like smoke, drifts and swirls ethereally. Characters and subplots are deftly woven into a tapestry of stories and pictures which only slowly emerges to our view. This movie tries to convince us that reality doesn't matter so much as aesthetic satisfaction. In Auggie Wren's (Harvey Keitel's) New York City smoke shop, day by day passes, seemingly unchanging until he teaches us to notice the little details of life. Paul Benjamin (William Hurt), a disheartened and broken writer, has a brush with death that is pivotal and sets up an unlikely series of events that afford him a novel glimpse into the life on the street which he saw, but did not truly perceive, every day. Finally, it's Auggie's turn to spin a tale.—Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>

Auggie runs a tobacco shop in New York. Through his work he meets all kinds of people. One of his regular customers is Paul, a writer with a tragic past. Then there's Ruby, an ex-girlfriend who reappears in his life for the first time in 18 years. Through them we meet a colourful bunch of people and explore some interesting stories.—grantss

This movie is a slice out of the lives of some present and former Brooklyn denizens all brought together by a smoke shop run by local "entrepeneur" Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel). Two days, one summer, and eighteen years are all examined in detail by the characters populating this movie.—Dan Geiser <pgeiser@freenet.columbus.oh.us>