Toward the end of shooting SMOKE, director Wayne Wang, screenwriter Paul Auster, and, seemingly, the entire crew were having such a good time that they approached producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein for more money to continue shooting the mostly improvised BLUE IN THE FACE. Not all the actors could return to Auggie Wren's cigar shop, but they were replaced by some well-known stars making cameo appearances. Lily Tomlin plays a strange man in search of Belgian waffles, Michael J. Fox appears as an equally odd man conducting a bizarre survey, Madonna delivers a singing telegram, and Roseanne does a dramatic scene as the wife of the shop's owner. What plot there is concerns the owner's desire to close the cigar store and rent the space to a vegetarian restaurant. In a documentary style, there are interviews with Brooklyn residents, archival footage of the demolition of Ebbets Field, and other attempts to show the look and feel of life in Brooklyn. In spite of the star appearances, it's the nonactors who provide much of the genuine warmth and easy improvisation as thinly veiled characters. A man with unusual glasses (musician Lou Reed), looking right into the camera, explains why he loves Brooklyn and feels nervous in Stockholm. Bob (filmmaker Jim Jarmusch) comes in to smoke his last cigarette with Auggie; he then demonstrates how one can always tell who the bad guys are in the movies because they invariably hold their cigarettes in a strange manner. As in SMOKE, Harvey Keitel holds the whole ensemble together with his touching portrayal of Auggie, a kind of Brooklyn everyman.

BLUE IN THE FACE is an improvised film that picks up where the movie SMOKE trailed off, with various neighborhood characters, played by well-known actors and musicians, wafting in and out of Auggie Wren's Brooklyn cigar shop.

Theatrical release: October 13, 1995.

The film was shot in only six days.

New York writers Luc Sante and Ian Frazier appear in interviews.

John Lurie, Calvin Weston, and Billy Martin (of Medeski, Martin and Wood) composed the score and also appear in the film.

RuPaul appears as a dancer.

Screenwriter-codirector Paul Auster, author of novels such as THE NEW YORK TRILOGY and LEVIATHAN, went on to direct his own film LULU ON THE BRIDGE, which also features Keitel and other actors from BLUE IN THE FACE and SMOKE.

Excerpt: "I think one of the reasons I live in New York is because...I know my way around New York. I don't know my way around Paris. I don't know my way around Denver. I don't know my way around Maui....I've been thinking of leaving for...35 years now. I'm almost ready."--Man with unusual glasses (Lou Reed)

"I'm scared in my own apartment. I'm scared 24 hours a day. But not necessarily in New York. I actually feel pretty comfortable in New York. I get scared...in like Sweden. You know, it's kind of empty. They're all drunk. Everything works....These things scare me. New York? No."--Man with unusual glasses

"A pack of Luckies?"--Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel) to Bob (Jim Jarmusch)
"You know what? No. I tell you what...I've got one cigarette left...and I've decided, you know, I was going to come here, I'm going to quit. But I wanted to smoke this with you. So I thought, 'last cigarette,' smoke it with Auggie..."--Bob
"You're kidding. I'm touched."--Auggie

"Why is it in every movie there's a shootout, and when they run out of bullets--click, click--they fling the gun away? Like it's a disposable cigarette lighter or something. What's up with that? Guns cost a lot of money. Can't you reload it? You know what I'm saying? They always--click--throw the gun out."--Bob
"That's a good point."--Auggie
"And another thing in movies I think is real weird...like war movies...Nazis in movies....Why do they always smoke like in some weird way...like this? [Imitates a German villain] Yah, vee haf vays of making you talk, Auggie."--Bob

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus

Distributor Notes: Blue In The Face

In the uproarious follow-up to the hit comedy SMOKE, Harvey Keitel (PULP FICTION) returns with a red-hot all-star cast that includes Michael J. Fox -- SPIN CITY, STUART LITTLE), Roseanne (ABC-TV's ROSEANNE), and Academy Award(R)-winner Mira Sorvino (1995 Best Supporting Actress -- MIGHTY APHRODITE). It's nonstop laughs when a wacky group of locals visits the neighborhood cigar shop, looking for good times ... and finding plenty of hilarious fun! But when the greedy owner threatens to close the shop for good -- and turn it into a trendy vegetarian restaurant -- the neighborhood proves they'll do just about anything to save their favorite hangout! Don't miss the highly original and entertaining comedy that had critics and audiences cheering!

Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Harvey Keitel: American Actor/Producer
Michael J. Fox: Canadian actor, FAMILY TIES/BACK TO THE FUTURE
 Roseanne: TV's Roseanne
Mira Sorvino: American Actress
Lily Tomlin: American Actress/Comedienne
Victor Argo: American Supporting Actor
Giancarlo Esposito: Actor
Malik Yoba: Actor, COOL RUNNINGS
Mel Gorham: Actress/"Blue In The Face
Lou Reed: American Rocker/Actor, Velvet Underground
Jim Jarmusch: American Director/Screenwriter

Wayne Wang: Director/Screenwriter, CHAN IS MISSING (1982), SMOKE (1995)
Paul Auster: American Novelist/Screenwriter/Director

"...A bold notion for a movie..."
"...The cameos are among the movie's principal pleasures...Jim Jarmusch makes a charmingly witty wannabe ex-smoker Bob, delivering nice takes on cinematic smoking..."
"...[An] air of gentle play and a wistful sense that Brooklyn in some kind of lost Eden..." -- Rating: B+
"...Lively....Amusing....Lurie's music is bouncy..."
"...A reaffirmation that cinema's beauty and richness really need no stars at all..."
"...[The film] has considerable charm and humor....Adam Holender's fresh, airy camera work and a vibrant electric score also add vitality to an all-talk film..."
"...Keitel provides a benevolent and stabilizing presence as characters wander into the shop, light up and interact..."