MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 475 this week

Smoke Signals (1998)

 -  Comedy | Drama  -  26 June 1998 (USA)
6.9
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.9/10 from 6,406 users   Metascore: 76/100
Reviews: 132 user | 56 critic | 17 from Metacritic.com

Young Indian man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by... See full summary »

Director:

Writers:

(book), (screenplay)
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 3627 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 50 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 19 titles created 04 Oct 2010
 
a list of 1110 titles created 13 Aug 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Smoke Signals (1998)

Smoke Signals (1998) on IMDb 6.9/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Smoke Signals.
9 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

East Is East (1999)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

In 1971 Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought... See full summary »

Director: Damien O'Donnell
Stars: Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed.

Director: Mike Leigh
Stars: Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, Brenda Blethyn
Smoke (1995)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A Brooklyn smoke shop is the center of neighborhood activity, and the stories of its customers.

Director: Wayne Wang
Stars: Giancarlo Esposito, José Zúñiga, Harvey Keitel
Together (2000)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

Elisabeth leaves her abusive and drunken husband Rolf, she packs her bags, takes the kids and goes to her brother Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. ... See full summary »

Director: Lukas Moodysson
Stars: Lisa Lindgren, Michael Nyqvist, Emma Samuelsson
Being There (1979)
Drama | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity.

Director: Hal Ashby
Stars: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas
About Schmidt (2002)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A man upon retirement embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.

Director: Alexander Payne
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis
Ghost World (2001)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Enid and Rebecca are social outsiders who, after graduating from high school, play a mean prank on a middle-aged geek.

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Stars: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Francie and Joe live the usual playful, fantasy filled childhoods of normal boys. However, with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother the pressure on Francie ... See full summary »

Director: Neil Jordan
Stars: Eamonn Owens, Alan Boyle, Fiona Shaw
Celebrity (1998)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

The fortunes of a husband and wife differ drastically after they divorce.

Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Greg Mottola, Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis
Mean Girls (2004)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Director: Mark Waters
Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey
Comedy | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Tired of her husband's philanderous ways, the mother of two daughters drowns her husband. With the reluctant help of the local coroner, the murder is obscured. Her daughters are having ... See full summary »

Director: Peter Greenaway
Stars: Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson
Trees Lounge (1996)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Tommy is an unemployed mechanic who spends most of his time in a bar (Trees Lounge) in a small blue collar town. He seems to always be thinking, "If only X then I could stop drinking".

Director: Steve Buscemi
Stars: Carol Kane, Mark Boone Junior, Steve Buscemi
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Evan Adams ...
...
Suzy Song
...
...
...
Young Victor Joseph
...
Young Thomas Builds-the-Fire
Monique Mojica ...
...
Chief Leonard George ...
Lester Fallsapart (as Leonard George)
...
Junior Polatkin
...
Boo
Michelle St. John ...
Velma
Elaine Miles ...
Cynthia Geary ...
Cathy the Gymnast
Edit

Storyline

Young Indian man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by Arnold. Arnold soon left his family (and his tough son Victor), and Victor hasn't seen his father for 10 years. When Victor hears Arnold has died, Thomas offers him funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains, but only if Thomas will also go with him. Thomas and Victor hit the road. Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

A new film from the heart of Native America.

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense images | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

26 June 1998 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$43,574 (USA) (26 June 1998)

Gross:

$6,719,300 (USA) (16 October 1998)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song "All My Relations" performed by Ulali at the end of the film uses the traditional Irish tune "Garryowen". The tune was a favorite of Acting-General George Armstrong Custer during the Civil War, and became the official air of the US 7th Cavalry Regiment in 1867. According to legend, it was the last tune played before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where Custer and his entire regiment were killed. See more »

Goofs

The old pickup truck that leaves the Joseph house on the reservation has 10-lug rims, and when it is returned by Victor and Thomas, it has 5-lug rims on all 4 wheels. Obviously it's a different truck. See more »

Quotes

[Thomas and Victor try to hitch a ride with Velma and Lucy]
Velma: Hey Thomas, need a ride?
Thomas Builds-the-Fire: Yeah!
Velma: What are goin' to trade for it. We're Indians, remember. We barter!
Thomas Builds-the-Fire: A story?
Lucy: Better be good.
See more »

Crazy Credits

Any similarity to actual persons, living, dead, or indigenous, is purely coincidental. See more »

Connections

References Dead Man (1995) See more »

Soundtracks

"Reservation Blues"
(1995)
Written and Performed by Jim Boyd
Lyrics by Sherman Alexie
Courtesy of Thunderwolf Records
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
A refreshing road film
26 December 1998 | by (Los Angeles) – See all my reviews

The eyes of cinema has always seen Indians only as the bad guys. The ones that shoot their arrows, wear feathers on their heads, and yell as they chase the heroes down. Finally, after 100 years of movies, we get a film that honestly portrays the Native American culture.  And man, it sure is refreshing.

The story opens on the Fourth of July, 1976 in a small Idaho Indian reservation. A small infant named Thomas Builds-the-Fire is thrown out of the window of a burning house and is caught by Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), a neighbor with a drinking problem, who is later kicked out of the house by his wife, leaving behind his son, Victor (Adam Beach). Arnold eventually settles down in Phoenix and his family never hears from him again.

20 years later, a phone call comes. It's from a woman in Phoenix, she says that Arnold is dead. Victor, who had developed a resentment towards his father over the years, decides that he should travel to Phoenix to pick up his ashes. Unfortunately, he has no money to get there... but Thomas does and offers to pay if he can come along with Victor. This is a tough decision for Victor since he never really liked Thomas, but he finally agrees and the two set off on their journey.

It's during their journey that we learn about the characters, Victor and Thomas' conversations reveal their attitudes towards Americans their views of Native Americans. In one scene, Victor accuses Thomas of learning everything about being an Indian from watching Dances With Wolves. In another funny sequence, the two begin talking about cowboys and end up singing a tune about John Wayne's teeth! Victor's resentment for his father is also revealed to us through flashbacks depicting the early years and the memories (some good, some bad) that the two shared.

They do eventually arrive in Phoenix and find the woman that called with the news of Arnold's death. Victor talks with her during the night and finds out how much his dad cared for him and how he never wanted to leave the reservation in the first place. The events that follow drastically alter Victor's perceptions of his father forever.

Smoke Signals is a great film and one that can teach you a lot about a culture so often misrepresented on the screen. There is a feeling of ease and casualness in the conversations between Victor and Thomas... slowly they reveal more and more of themselves to us, in a way that is so nonchalant that we understand their feelings it without even noticing it. Smoke Signals is well worth your time and offers a refreshing alternative to the big budget, special effects driven crap this summer.


31 of 35 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
not a fan of hyphenated nationalities dejectedwyvern
why so manny class room viewings kunyahk
What was up with Victor's hair? adrianpskb
Ennit! rrossman-2
How Canadian is this? bdtiscool
Significance of Fire gsfan93
Discuss Smoke Signals (1998) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?