Give this hard-to-get-a-grip-on mood piece points for taking a major dare. Writer Paul Auster (The Music of Chance) and director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club) have made a movie about how people talk. They expect us to listen and to note intonation, body language, false notes and hidden meaning. It sounds like an effort, but it's not. For all the meandering, Smoke is a sharply observant and witty film that plumbs unexpected depths of feeling.

Harvey Keitel heads a first-rate cast as Auggie Wren,…