Japan Synopsis
“Where there's smoke… there's laughter!”
Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.
The 1994–1996 Japan Window
143 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. Smoke sits at position #55.
Other Titles From Miramax
The 1990s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 1990s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Smoke premiered. 447 total titles in this decade from Japan.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 52m runtime, production spent $63K per minute on screen and earned $75K per minute back.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,730 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (62nd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.3 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Comedy productions specifically: #614 of 1,411 (top 44%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Germany, Japan, United States of America |
| Original Language | En |
| Production Companies | Miramax, NDF International, Eurospace |
| Runtime | 1h 52m |
| Release Date | June 9, 1995 |
| IMDb | tt0114478 |