“Now I’m going to light this. And I’m going to wait for the coffee to be poured. Because that is the correct order of business.”

Before Paul Thomas Anderson altered and expanded on his short film, reworking it to serve as the prologue of his debut feature Hard Eight (1996), Cigarettes & Coffee was a hit at Sundance. Shot for twenty grand on a borrowed camera, the film is a tight little story propelled by the burgeoning director’s penchant for rich dialogue. The film’s success at Sundance in 1993 led to him being invited to the Sundance Institute to work on the feature-length version (incidentally, while waiting for Hard Eight to begin shooting, he wrote Boogie Nights [1997]).

Starring Philip Baker Hall (who would reprise his role in Hard Eight), the film also features Kirk Baltz (probably best known as Officer Nash in Reservoir Dogs [1992]) and Miguel Ferrer. The entire story unfolds within half an hour at a diner, with references and brief cuts to events that occurred previously.

The plot concerns a fated $20 bill that Douglas had signed with a marker for good luck. Before he could gamble it away, he lent it to his friend Steve who he was sure would pay it back later. When he got back to his hotel room, his wife told him that they would be meeting Steve and his wife for dinner later that evening. His world turns upside down when he sees his signed $20 bill lying on the floor. The opens after this, chronologically-speaking, with Douglas asking his mentor for advice over cigarettes and coffee at the diner.

Anderson’s intricacy and inventiveness allow the film to be contained tightly in both time and space. The chronological order of events is much less compelling than the way Anderson presents them, much like Tarantino’s first two films, Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Having recognizable actors in the principal roles certainly helps, but the film’s success ultimately belongs to Anderson’s writing and construction.

Unfortunately, a VHS rip still appears to be the best version available, but at least it’s free to watch.