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Imagine the smoke-filled chatathon Coffee and Cigarettes as directed by Guy Ritchie instead of Jim Jarmusch and you’ll have an idea of what Nicotina is like. Three smokers are paired with three non-smokers, and everyone spends a lot of time smoking, trying not to smoke, or talking about smoking. There is a plot, though, a complicated one involving a lovelorn computer hacker and voyeur (Mexican cutie Diego Luna, of Y tu mamá también fame), a cache of diamonds, Russian mobsters, some mixed-up computer discs, and a lot of Tarantino-esque hoodlum philosophizing about fate, chance, and of course, cigarettes. Director Hugo Rodriguez keeps things moving at a nicotine-fit clip (the picture takes place in real time), and there’s plenty to laugh at and a dazzling style to admire, if not much substance, before the bodies inevitably begin to pile up. See, smoking is bad for your health. (93 minutes)
BY GARY SUSMAN
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