My Blueberry Nights (2007)

A young woman takes a soul-searching journey across America to resolve her questions about love while encountering a series of offbeat characters along the way.

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writers:

Kar Wai Wong (screenplay), Lawrence Block (screenplay),

Stars:

Jude Law, Norah Jones, Chad R. Davis

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jude Law	...	Jeremy
Norah Jones	...	Elizabeth
Chad R. Davis	...	Boyfriend (as Chad Davis)
Katya Blumenberg	...	Girlfriend
John Malloy	...	Diner Manager
Demetrius Butler	...	Male Customer
Frankie Faison	...	Travis
David Strathairn	...	Arnie
Adriane Lenox	...	Sandy
Rachel Weisz	...	Sue Lynne
Benjamin Kanes	...	Randy
Cat Power	...	Katya (as Chan Marshall)
Michael Hartnett	...	Sunglasses
Natalie Portman	...	Leslie
Michael May	...	Aloha

Storyline

Elizabeth's heart is broken. For solace, she drops in late at night a few times at Jeremy's diner for blueberry pie a la mode; they talk. Once, he watchers her sleep, her head on the counter. Abruptly, she leaves New York City to get away from her pain. She works a couple of jobs in Memphis. There, a heart-broken cop is drinking himself into oblivion, his ex occasionally showing up where he drinks and Lizzy works. Then, she's in Nevada, working at a casino where she uses her savings (she wants a car) to stake Leslie, a busted gambler, in a high rollers' game. After, Beth drives Leslie to Vegas where Leslie's estranged father lives. Broken relationships. What about Jeremy?

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Plot Keywords:

casino | nevada | new york city | blueberry pie | love | 

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Taglines:

How do you say goodbye to someone you can't imagine living without?

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including violence, drinking and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [es] Official site [uk]

Country:

Hong Kong China France

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 November 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

El sabor de la noche

Filming Locations:

Caliente, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$74,146 (USA) (4 April 2008)

Gross:

$866,778 (USA) (11 July 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production, Lou Yi Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the Jeremy's café "Klyuch" is actually the Russian word for key. It can be seen on the front door of the café in blue Cyrillic letters.

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Quotes

Leslie: Sometimes your rhythm's off, you read the person right but still do the wrong thing.
Elizabeth: Because you trust them?
Leslie: Because you can't even trust yourself.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 12 April 2008 (2008)

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Soundtracks

"The Greatest"
Performed by Cat Power
Written by Cat Power (as Chan Marshall)
Courtesy of Matador Records
Published by Multitude Music LLC (BMI)

User Reviews

predictable

In one word: predictable. I'm sorry, I really did want to like this. After all, the Chinese Director - Wong Kar Wai – is famous in the world of independent World Cinema and this has been his long awaited first English language film. And of course the cast is both extremely beautiful and undeniably talented – just not at working opposite each other.

It has to be said: when Jude Law is good he's mind blowing, but when he's bad he's unwatchable. Unfortunately these days, more often then not, I cringe when he comes on the screen. It's such a shame, especially as he's so nice to look at, but rather then growing as an actor he seems to be becoming a caricature of himself. I mean, his character Jeremy is supposed to be a Mancuniann in New York – but he can't even pull that off believably! I was curious to see what Norah Jones would be like on the big screen. My verdict: stick to the singing. The first half an hour was painfully forced and not helped by Law's dry performance. It did get marginally better as Elizabeth (Jones' character) leaves Jeremy's blueberry pies behind and goes on a self-discovering journey across America, though this might be more due to a wonderful performance by her co-stars.

David Strathairn especially deserves recognition. His portrayal of alcoholic cop Arnie is superb. Unable to accept that his marriage to Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz) is over, he befriends Elizabeth when she takes on two waitressing jobs in his local bar and dinner. An argument with devastating results ensues, and we see Weisz at her best – ruthless and sexy yet vulnerable. Natalie Portman's performance as a crazy gambling addict is equally great, although her acting opposite Jones never felt comfortable.

Finally, Wai is renowned for his creative cinematography, and at least in that respect My Bluberry Nights didn't disappoint. Maybe if you watched this with the volume set on mute you'd see this as the masterpiece it's trying to be. But while tension can enhance a film, I felt like this was just full of confusion. Artistic indie flick or traditional Hollywood blockbuster? Well, neither really, just a lot of unnerving insecurity.

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