VIDEO Blue In The Face When Wayne Wang's thoroughly enjoyable New York fable Smoke came in under budget, director/writer Paul Auster had had so much fun putting it together that he and Wang decided to spend the remaining money on a hastily constructed sequel. They shot it in less than a week, and called the result Blue In The Face.
The plot is almost non-existent. Auggie (Harvey Keitel), owner of the Brooklyn Cigar Company, discovers that his landlord plans to sell up, which would put him and his cleaner Jimmy on the street. Only Auggie's powers of persuasion and his landlord's sense of community stand between the Brooklyn Cigar Company and the wrecking ball. That's about it so far as the story goes.
But Blue In The Face isn't a story in the traditional, narrative sense; rather it's about people. Throughout the movie, we are treated to various scenes in which the actors improvise their responses.
A line-up of stars appearing in minor (yet witty) roles include Mira Sorvino, Jim Jarmusch, Lou Reed, Roseanne, Madonna and Michael J. Fox. Intercut among the film sequences are video interviews with regular Brooklynites.
This is a genuinely entertaining film with a heart of gold and a marvellous sense of humour.
BOOKS Anything Considered. Peter Mayle (Penguin) This is as light and frothy a piece of fiction as you could ever hope to read - as easy to consume as a fine Champagne and with just about the same effect. Throughout this tale of an unlikely criminal, I found myself grinning inanely at hero Bennet's barely credible, but highly entertaining adventures.