Smoke / Blue in the Face

In Wayne Wang's engaging ensemble piece "Smoke," streetwise Brooklyn tobacconist Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel) finds his store trafficked by a stream of troubled souls. William Hurt, Forest Whitaker, Stockard Channing, Harold Perrineau, Jr., Ashley Judd co-star. Then, Keitel returns as Wren in Wang's improvised, shot-in-three-days companion piece "Blue in the Face," as more regulars wrestle with weighty topics. Giancarlo Esposito, Michael J. Fox, Madonna, Lou Reed, Roseanne Barr co-star. 179 min. Total. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English; Subtitles: English; featurettes.