Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

2freensel I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

donaldricco Really, really good film! They really cover everything in this - life on the reservation, father/son relationships, and a great deal of culture of the Native American way of life. I really liked the relationship between Victor and Thomas and the natural feel that existed between the characters. Thomas was my favorite - his voice, his smile, and the stories he wove. I really enjoyed the Native radio station announcements, especially the traffic reports, and it was a kick to see two actresses from "Northern Exposure" in here! Good music too! I'd definitely watch this again!

Rami Mosaoa For years, thousands of the movies that produced by Western filmmakers presented Native Americans in a stereotypical way. They showed them a as warriors who are in a constant conflict with white people. These movies depicted Native Americans as savages, murderous defectors, and robbers. In general, these stereotypical movies showed the Native Americans in bad images, and the whites are always heroes. Yet, in 1998, a movie called "Smoke Signals" changed the style of Native Americans movies. It showed Native Americans in a more realistic way. The secret behind this movie is its cast. In fact, "Smoke Signals" written, directed, acted, and co-produced by Native Americans. The writer of this movie is Sherman Alexie who grew up on an Indian reservation in Washington. Unlike the writer a white family in Oregon adopted the director of this movie who is Chris Eyre. The actors of "Smoke Signals" include Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal, and others. Comedy and Drama are the main genres of this movie.The story of "Smoke Signals" is about two young Indians men grew up together on an Indian reservation in Idaho which is Coeur d'Alene. Although they grew up together, they have totally different personalities. Victor (Adam Beach) who is a son of an alcohol addicted father (Gary Farmer). His father vanished from the reservation to live in a trailer near Phoenix while he was a little boy. Actually, Victor has a tough personality. However, Thomas (Evan Adams) is the other Indian young man who lost his parents in a fire that caught their home on the 4th of July 1976 while he was a baby. In Fact, Victor's father saved Thomas from the fire. Thomas has a very kind personality, and he always annoys Victor by telling stories about the live on reservation and about Victor's father. After about ten years from the day that victor's father vanished, Victor heard that his father died in his trailer in Arizona. He wanted to travel to Phoenix to bring his father's ashes back, but he did not have enough money for this trip. His friend Thomas decided to help him with the money, but in return he wanted to join the trip to Phoenix. After Victor accepted Thomas' offer, they started their trip to Phoenix that was full of surprising events.There is no doubt that Chris Eyre was very successful in directing this movie. He was able to present the story by adding the sense of humor. The movie contains many funny scenes that convey messages. For instance, the scene that showed the two ladies who were in the car, that moves backward, asking Victor and Thomas if they got their passports to enter the states. Actually, this scene makes the viewer laugh. At the same time, it conveys how Native Americans feel about their reservations as an isolated part form the country. In addition, Evan Adams was amazing in his performance. The character of Thomas adds an important value to the movie, and helped in placing the sense of humor. Thomas' appearance and cloths were very funny especially his over-sized glasses. Beside his appearance, his accent played important role in attracting viewers' attention. Especially, the way he used to call Victor, "Hey Victor." However, this movie has a lot of flashbacks. In fact, all of them were well used. The character of Thomas as storytellers made the use of flashbacks vital in this movie. One of the interesting flashbacks is when Thomas was telling a story about how Victor's mother was able to feed one hundred Indians by fifty fry bread. Beside Thomas' stories, the flashbacks were very useful in showing the life of Victor's father in Phoenix, and how he felt about his son Victor.In general, "Smoke Signals" is a unique movie that produced by Native Americans. It shows the modern life of Native Americans on reservation, their values and beliefs. It also stresses on some issues that related to the history of Native Americans. Actually, "Smoke Signals" is a very enjoyable movie that must to see at least one. It is well written, acted, directed, and edited. On scale of five stars this movie deserves four stars.

Ibrahim 90 Smoke Signals, film directed by Chris Eyre, is one of the greatest drama productions. The film, first presented in 1998, represents the current life of the Native Americans. The actors of this drama effectively embodied the different characters. For instance, Evan Adams as Thomas has inimitable ambiance and a great sense of humor which lids him to play a key role in the film. On the other hand, Adam Beach as Victor is one of the film stars who play the opposing character of Thomas, a serious and formal man. Smoke Signals is the first Native American film production, including actors, writer, and director. In addition, the film received several awards between 1998 and 1999 from different organizations. The film mainly focuses on Thomas and Victor, who are the key characters of the movie, and their life in a Native American reservation in Idaho. Victor is a basketball player and Thomas is a storyteller. Both of them are linked with Gary Farmer as Arnold who is Victor's father. In the beginning of the film, Arnold rescues Thomas when he was a baby from a house fire that killed his parents. After that, Thomas start treating Arnold as a father or a role model, but Victor and his mother were suffering from Arnold since he was alcoholic and he treated them violently. As a result, Arnold leaves his house and the reservation to go to Phoenix and complete the rest of his life there. A couple of years later, Arnold dies and leaves his properties in Phoenix. Therefore, Victor headed Phoenix in order to get his father's possessions and Thomas asked him to be his travel meet. At this trip Victor and Thomas faced many adventure events which make them closer than their childhood. Victor started to convince Thomas in order to change his appearance to be more as Native American and Thomas accepted. When they arrived to Phoenix, Thomas and Victor met Suzie who was Arnold's friend. Suzie tried to change Arnold image in Victor's mind by telling him the truth about the fire that Arnold made when he was drunk which caused the death of Thomas's parents. The film Smoke Signals is highly qualified production in all aspects. One of those great aspects is the film main story. The film was written by Sherman Alexei who writes the story in a logical way that makes it greatly reliable and simple. The well linked events of the story serve to a greater understanding of the Native American issues. A good example of these issues is the trouble relationship between father and son. Although this movie was filmed in the late nineties, the effects are quite surprising. Another interesting aspect of the movie is the cast. The cast were not Hollywood stars, but they preformed their parts well. Instead of hiring regular actors, the director chose to hire Native Americans to play the role or to simply to be themselves. Smoke Signals is a great film since it has carries a message, something which current movies lack. I believe that Native Americans are living in sort of limitation since they are living on a reservation that is under developed comparing it with other American civilization. The movie reflects a different kind of life style with a mix of values which shows us that people with different values can still live together and perhaps the differences are makes us more united. Considering the date of production and that it is the first movie made by Native Americans, I believe they did an overall good work that is why I would rate it with 4 stars.

Virgos_Eternal_Reign The best thing I'd have to say about this flick is just the down right emotion of it. It digs deep into our relationships with family members and friends. It makes you think more of YOUR home life with your OWN secrets and built up anger towards your Mother or Father. It also questions the very boundaries of true Alcoholism. When do we draw the line & quit? When do we start loving those around us more than the bottle? But the movie has lotz of color! Some of the Landscape Shots in this film are really just remarkable. Lots of BEAUTIFUL scenes. Comic relief from the bitterness & tension comes from the character, Thomas. His long braided hair and big wide grin are a classic portrayal of an American Indian/Native American. Thomas is insightful & wise. Yet Goofy and just a bit on the gullible side. Making him an extremely lovable & unforgettable Character."SMOKE SIGNALS" A Movie is only made good by it's underlined Emotion. Smoke Signals offers a tremendous amount of pure, untapped and utterly raw emotion.