Blue in the Face (1995)

Preceded by: Smoke (1995)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Auggie Wren	Harvey Keitel	½
Vinnie	Victor Argo
Tommy Finelli	Giancarlo Esposito
Pete Maloney	Michael J. Fox	½
Violet	Mel Gorham	½
Jimmy Rose	Jared Harris	-
Bob	Jim Jarmusch
Man with strange glasses	Lou Reed
Dot	Roseanne Barr	-
The young lady	Mira Sorvino	-
The waffle eater	Lily Tomlin	-
The watch man	Malik Yoba
Singing telegram	Madonna	-

Review

Paul Auster and Wayne Wang's follow-up to their wonderful slice of life Smoke, shot more or less simultaneously with that film and released a few months later. Blue in the Face is a more loosely scripted film consisting of vignettes and interviews with some real-life locals and some familiar faces from Smoke who go in and out of character and offer their musings on life in general and Brooklyn in particular. Although the source material may have consisted of somewhat random bits and pieces, the film is expertly assembled by the directors and editor Christopher Tellefsen, and the result is a little semi-gem of everyday philosophy about urban life in the 1990s. Free-flowing conversations filled with nostalgia and various mundane topics create a seemingly authentic document from a neighbourhood in change. With marvellous cameos by Lou Reed and Jim Jarmusch.