My Blueberry Nights (2007)

A young lonely 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) (as W.K.W.), Lawrence Block (screenplay)

Stars:

Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman

4 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:

foodie | americana | female friendship | female bonding | road trip | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

As Norah Jones had no prior acting experience before this movie, she had intended on taking a few acting classes before production to prepare for her role, but Wong Kar-Wai insisted that she didn't as he considered her "a natural" and didn't need them.

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Goofs

When Sue Lynne has one final confrontation with Elizabeth at the diner, she pays Arnie's tab and says "don't forget about him" but her lip movements don't match the words she's saying.

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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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Crazy Credits

The opening credits play over melting ice cream drizzling over blueberry pie, while the font is blueberry colored.

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Connections

References The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

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Soundtracks

The Devil's Highway
Performed by Hello Stranger
Written by Juliette Commagers, Joachim Cooder, Jared Smith and Ben Messelbeck
Courtesy of Four Square Death Match Records

User Reviews

Incomplete

Movie Review: My Blueberry Nights (2008) By Ken Lee

The filmic language of this film is unmistakably WKW, and it won't be wrong for one to say it's reminiscent of his earlier works, chief of which, "Chungking Express"; but it doesn't surpass past achievements, and does not bring us to the "next level", figuratively speaking.

A sentiment that may at once appears to be a bit too harsh, necessarily, this may be. But we do come to expect more from WKW, almost a master, in this age of ours.

Weak plot aside, this film benefits from some truly wonderful (supporting) casts throughout, especially from David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz, except for the most important - the ingénue character that Norah portrays. Symptomatic of this problem is, despite limited screen time together, one can't help wanting to find out more about the Katya character, who seems to share more on screen chemistry with Jeremy (Jude Law) in that cameo, and their past relationship seems a very promising spin-off, in its own right.

And if a post-modern pastiche can be made unto this film, imagine if it's the doll eye Faye Wong (of Chungking Express' fame) with Jude Law in this film...

Ten minutes into the film, when the "Yumeiji theme" (in harmonica) used so prevalently in "In the Mood for Love" was played in the background, I was almost teary eyes. This is one for WKW's fans, even if it's not for the ages.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Official site [Spain]

Country:

China France USA Hong Kong

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 November 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

My Blueberry Nights

Filming Locations:

Arcade Restaurant - 540 S Main St, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$74,146, 6 April 2008

Gross USA:

$867,275

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,007,671

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