Synopsis
Auggie runs a small tobacco shop in Brooklyn, New York. The whole neighborhood comes to visit him to buy cigarettes and have some small talk. During the movie Lou Reed tries to explain why he has to have a cut on his health insurance bill if he keeps smoking and Madonna acts as a Singing Telegram.
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Cast
- Harvey KeitelAuggie Wren
- Lou ReedMan with Strange Glasses
- Michael J. FoxPete Maloney
- Roseanne BarrDot
- Lily TomlinWaffle eater
- Giancarlo EspositoTommy Finelli
- José ZúñigaJerry
- MadonnaSinging Telegram
- Mira SorvinoYoung lady
- Keith DavidJackie Robinson
Recommendations
- 88
ReelViews
The film is so exuberant that we don't care whether we're listening to Lou Reed's off-the-cuff comments about New York, watching Mel Gorham do a sexy dance in front of a mirror, or hearing Jim Jarmusch's ramblings on the romance of the smoking culture. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
The improvisations are a mixed bag -- Reed and Fox are surprisingly hilarious, while Roseanne is a shrieking horror show -- but the air of gentle play and a wistful sense that Brooklyn is some kind of lost Eden put this one up on the more structured "Smoke." - 80
Los Angeles Times
[The movie has] considerable charm and humor....Adam Holender's fresh, airy camera work and a vibrant electric score also add vitality to an all-talk film. [13 Oct 1999, p.F8] - 80
The New York Times
Good-humored, try-anything fun. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
The results are ragged, disjointed, and endearing. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The lows never last too long - something invariably jumps out to recapture our interest or prompt a chuckle. - 63
Chicago Sun-Times
Some of the bits work and others don't, but no one seems to be keeping score, and that's part of the movie's charm. - 50
Austin Chronicle
Jim Jarmusch's elegiac, hilarious performance as a man about to smoke his final cigarette is brilliant.
