Blue in the Face was filmed over a five-day period as a follow-up to Wang's 1995 film Smoke. During production of Smoke, Keitel and the others ad-libbed scenes in-character between takes and a sequel was made using this improvised material.
Lily Tomlin was nominated for an American Comedy Award as "Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture" for her performance in this picture.
The film once again centers on the Brooklyn Cigar Store and manager Auggie (Harvey Keitel), although most of the other characters are different. The store owner's frustrated wife Dot (Roseanne Barr) is one of them, and one of the plotlines follows her attempts to seduce Auggie. Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin and Lou Reed as himself also put in appearances.
The film received mixed reviews.[1][2][3] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 43% based on reviews from 23 critics, with an average rating of 5.7/10.[4]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, remarking that the movie "was shot in six days, and sometimes feels like it…Some of the bits work and others don't, but no one seems to be keeping score, and that's part of the movie's charm.[3] Ebert also notes that "Smoke is, of course, a much better film, and if you haven't seen it, then you should start there and not here. Blue in the Face is more of a footnote."[3]