Uncertainty

The movie Smoke is full of the uncertainty of life. This movie depicts the lives of different types of New Yorkers and the only thing connecting them is uncertainty. Paul, Auggie, Rashid, and the rest of them have their own problems but in a way, they are all connected. We all have our own problems and things we long for in life. Rashid is a young boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and nervously got himself into trouble with money and these people. He wants to make things right and eventually does with giving the money to Auggie. Rashid is also searching for his father who hasn’t seen him in 12 years. These uncertainties are intertwined with Paul. A grieving father and husband unsure of his future and what is to come. Auggie, this store clerk is trying to understand his role in his possible daughters’ life. Many questions are not answered and left for the person watching the movie only to guess what the future holds for these characters.

I feel the most uncertainty is found in Rashid’s storyline. I found it interesting that he kind of creates this different persona of who he really is. He stumbles on Paul who he saves from getting hit by a truck in the opening scene. We meet him as Rashid a nice caring, clumsy, and lost boy. We can see that Rashid is lost in Paul’s apartment, when he often doesn’t know what to do with himself and clumsily breaks things and gets Paul upset. Despite this Rashid looks up to Paul for allowing him to stay in his apartment knowing “no New Yorker would just let someone stay in their home.” Rashid acts as if he has meetings to go to and must meet with people so Paul isn’t suspicious of him. When his aunt is introduced; we find out Rashid is really Thomas and he has been living with his aunt. We see Thomas wants to find his dad and when he does, he is rather uncertain about what to do. I feel he didn’t introduce himself as his son simply because that’s an extremely hard thing to do. This regular man is the one who left 12 years ago and doesn’t even know if his son exists. Rashid just wants to be loved like the son Cyrus has. He is longing for that father figure he has been missing all these years. The movie ends with uncertainty regarding Rashid’s timeline. Does his father allow him to be with his family and hang with his stepbrother? Will Rashid get that father figure he’s been longing for?

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