Directed by:
Kar Wai Wong Written by:
Kar Wai Wong,
Lawrence Block Starring:
Norah Jones,
Jude Law,
Rachel Weisz,
Natalie Portman,
David Strathairn,
Cat Power Distributed by Optimum Releasing DVD is released in the U.K. on June 23rd 2008.
Available at Play.com for £10.99 Review by
Matt Holmes Film
rating: 2
DVD
rating: 2
Opening and virtually closing with a
Norah Jones moody blues record, this episodic film of sensual moments, the evocatively titled
My Blueberry Nights feels like a long drawn out and artful music video, especially when it's central lead is said singer/songwriter observing and learning about life through a brief glimpse into the lives of others. At 3 and a half minutes long, this could have been a very satisfying side compliment to one of her singles as she vacantly plods through a thin MTV narrative that plays second fiddle to the arresting and decorative visuals - you know like how a music video is designed for? However, At nearly two hours in length (itself cut a 15 minute portion from a bloated screening at Cannes) it's a long drawn out affair which like Blueberry Pie's - are delicious to look at but you really need some Ice Cream, some real flavour to go with it to keep your mouthwatering for more otherwise it ends up being very dry. Some Ice Cream please waiter, or a heavy portion of whisky! This is one dry serving. The film comes from Hong Kong auteur
Wong Kar Wai - his first shot in the English language and is highly reminiscent of his great
In the Mood for Love in it's melancholic nature and bookended story but not in it's quirky dialogue and highly contrived flat narrative. Jones plays Elizabeth, a heartbroken young gal who breaks up with her boyfriend after finding out he has been cheating on her with a hot blonde, found guilty by a jury of one - the friendly and chatty cafe owner
Jude Law (with a dodgy Manchester accent to bout!) who served the adulterous pair a pork chop the previous night. Now, I'm going to go off in a tangent here but hands up how many of you travellers out there have ever met an English man running a cafe in America? I'm assuming it's very few of you but time and time again in these movies they just seem to pop-up out of nowhere, Englishman making their living in the Big Apple with low-paid establishments. Possibly even stranger, is just how nice this guy is and how accommodating he is to a total stranger but ah of course, we find out he has had his few troubles with love in the past.
You see he has this jar and once people have confided their deepest love troubles with him, they trust him enough to look after the keys to their place until the time comes when that door needs to be re-opened. Sometimes it's days, weeks but more often than not it's never again. Certainly for Elizabeth, we feel it will probably be never. She then embarks on a road trip that takes her Memphis - the city of blues. Maybe not the most obvious choice for a heartbroken young singleton. She takes on two crappy jobs, one in a bar and one as a waitress in a cafe where it seems twice daily she runs into
David Strathairn whose excellent performance as a guy drowning in whisky because he just can't let go of his separated wife
Rachel Weisz is one of the few moments of real depth and drama in the movie. Another narrative see's Elizabeth team up with
Natalie Portman, who after a terrible couple of years in
Star Wars is really starting to grow as an actress. I enjoyed her in
The Other Boleyn Girl and she's equally as good here as a confident and cocky gambler, who doesn't mind tipping waitress' for an obnoxious asshole who like Mr. Pink doesn't believe in tipping because "he'll pay be back, he just doesn't know it yet" as the shuffle begins for a new round of cards.
Their buddy narrative feels rushed, under-developed and actually could have made a decent
Thelma & Louise movie in it's own right if that had been the focal point of the screenplay. But no Wong is feeling rushed. He needs to get
Norah Jones back to
Jude Law for one more scene of live affirmation where the couple with no chemistry will begin to actually see a future for themselves. So what I'm trying to say then is that it's really nice to look at, has terrific atmosphere and mood from a very talented director but the acting from the pair that really matter (Law & Jones) doesn't work and the story is really under-developed. There's some joy to be had if you like pretty pictures but I can't recommend this film on any other level really, it's a slight bit of fluff on the otherwise brilliant career of
Kar Wai Wong.
EXTRAS
Not much to see here. A press conference from Cannes which is un-edited and really boring actually with most of the stuff covered once again on a rather more interesting and juicier "Making of" doc.
OVERALL Hopefully just a brief experiment from
Kar Wai Wong to work in the English language and to practice working with different kind of actors and I guess it's a nice little side compliment to
In the Mood for Love but
My Blueberry Nights is not a good movie for anyone looking for a good life affirming story. Pretty it is but dry and tasteless.