Editor Reviews:

Description:
Critically acclaimed as one of the best films of the year, SMOKE SIGNALS was also a distinguished winner at the Sundance Film Festival! Though Victor and Thomas have lived their entire young lives in the same tiny town, they couldn't have less in common! But when Victor is urgently called away, it's Thomas who comes up with the money to pay for his trip. There's just one thing Victor has to do: take Thomas along for the ride! You're in for a rare and entertaining comic treat as this most unlikely pair leave home on what becomes an unexpectedly unforgettable adventure of friendship and discovery!

Amazon.com:
Based on a couple of short stories (from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven) by Sherman Alexie, Smoke Signals is a lean and assured feature that speaks well of its lengthy, rich evolution, including a development stint at Sundance. The first feature made by a Native American crew and creative team, the film concerns two young Idaho men with radically different memories of one Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), a former resident of the reservation who split years before and has just died in Phoenix. Arnold's strapping, popular son, Victor (Adam Beach), remembers him best as an alcoholic, occasionally abusive father who drove off one day and never came back. By contrast, Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams), whom Arnold had saved from certain death years earlier, has chosen to exaggerate the man's life and deeds in a mythmaking fashion that drives Victor crazy. Circumstances bring the two together, however, in a bus ride to retrieve Arnold's ashes. There, in Phoenix, a confrontation with the reality of the dead man's fullest legacy has a profound effect on both characters. Alexie, who wrote the script and was personally involved in all aspects of the production, and first-time director Chris Eyre are so polished in their approach that you can barely feel the cinematic engine at work here. This is the kind of movie in which the characters seem to be driving everything forward, a captivating and pleasant experience that gets a little too tidy at the end (can we call a moratorium on scenes of human ashes lovingly disposed to the winds?), but which is undeniably moving. The cast, including Irene Bedard (the voice of and physical inspiration for Disney's Pocahontas) is outstanding. --Tom Keogh

Rating : - Beautiful universal story
There is something so beautiful about this movie, and yet I find it hard to explain. I try to recall this movie whenever I run into someone I can not find redeemable. Sometimes you can only focus on the bad, and sometimes you only focus on the good, and sometimes you discover the middle.

Victor Joseph and his friend Thomas are taking a road trip. Thomas and Victor are on their way to pay their last respects to Victor's dad who was living in Phoenix. Victor needs some financial assistance and Thomas is willing to help so long as he can go with. Victor needs to come to grips with his past, how he feels about his father who has passed away and he hasn't seen in 10 years, he needs to stop living with a mask on. Thomas seems terribly annoying, but it's Thomas recollections of everything good that help Victor see that not all is lost. Thomas' positive energy helps elevate the mood of the movie as well. Suzy Song is who the boys find when they get to Phoenix, and she fills in the gaps for Victor about his father.

It is the journey of this movie that is beautiful. It is funny, and sad, and thought provoking. The acting is great, the story is universal. It may be a Native American tale, but it really is a universal lesson. Very moving.