I would prefer not to credit with Keitel with a strong performance in the film. But his casting is perfect alongside William Hurt. Even Ashley Judd's dramatic few seconds add flavor to the narrative. This is a great film, one of my favorites. The genius of its direction is the underpowering attention to the narrative.
Smoke defies the gravity of more worldly movies.
But it doesn't take sex or death to accentuate the banal unfolding lives of this film.