Blue in the Face
A loose, affectionate Brooklyn mosaic where cigar-store regulars turn everyday talk, eccentricity, and improvisation into a celebration of neighborhood life.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Mild
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- witty
- offbeat
- warm
- lazy sunday
- new york movie night
What critics said
Critics found the improvisational Brooklyn ensemble intermittently charming but markedly looser and less substantial than Smoke.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The movie strings together off-the-cuff situations involving recurring cigar-store customers and neighborhood figures.
The cigar store becomes a meeting point for Brooklyn's diverse ethnicity, philosophies, relationships, and everyday rituals.
Auggie Wren's Brooklyn cigar store anchors conversations about smoking, baseball, romance, and city life.
Its improvisational situations foreground casual interaction, eccentric humor, and essential humanity over narrative precision.
Films like Blue in the Face, and why
Smoke
improvisational ensemble comedy centered on everyday conversation, urban community, and offbeat humanism
Slacker
warm, eccentric slice-of-life comedy built from loosely connected encounters and talkative characters
Night on Earth
playful metropolitan mosaic using diverse characters, digressive humor, and conversational observation
Movie Details
- Directors
- Paul Auster, Wayne Wang
- Release Date
- 1995-09-15
- Runtime
- 83 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (192)
Cast
- Harvey Keitel
- Mel Gorham
- Victor Argo
- Roseanne Barr
- Giancarlo Esposito
- Jared Harris
- José Zúñiga
- Jim Jarmusch
- Lou Reed
- Keith David
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV
- Rent
- JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Blue in the Face about?
- A loose, affectionate Brooklyn mosaic where cigar-store regulars turn everyday talk, eccentricity, and improvisation into a celebration of neighborhood life.
- What is Blue in the Face like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Blue in the Face as measured, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Blue in the Face violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Blue in the Face.
- What did critics think of Blue in the Face?
- Critics found the improvisational Brooklyn ensemble intermittently charming but markedly looser and less substantial than Smoke.
- Which films are like Blue in the Face?
- Films with a similar feel include Smoke, Slacker, and Night on Earth.
- How long is Blue in the Face?
- Blue in the Face runs 83 minutes.
- Where can I watch Blue in the Face?
- In United States, Blue in the Face streams on fuboTV.
