My Blueberry Nights | Christian Toto reviews | DONNE TEMPO
My Blueberry Nights
July/06/08 08:14 PM Filed in: Christian
Toto reviews
Singer Norah Jones tries to drown her sorrows in pie but ends up on a belabored road trip in "My Blueberry Nights," a spacey ode to romantic longing and uncertainty.
Jones makes her motion picture debut as Elizabeth, a young woman who's heartsick when her boyfriend finds a new lover. She drowns her sorrows with the leftover blueberry pie slices served up by Jeremy (Jude Law), a Big Apple café owner who lends "Lizzie" an ear at closing time.
But flaky desserts and Jeremy's tender approach isn't enough for Lizzie. She embarks on a road trip to help her forget her beau, ending up first in Memphis and then in Las Vegas. She meets some pretty strange folks along the way, a deeply flawed group who represent a sizable step up from the bland Lizzie.
Jones isn't ready to carry a film yet, and her character is so haphazardly sketched the viewer won't care enough about her broken heart. That leaves the supporting characters to pick up the dramatic slack, but each is burdened with ridiculous caricatures that distract without enlightening.
Law fares best, even if a less handsome actor might have made more sense for the part. Jeremy flits around his café in convincing fashion, and he's droll enough to be seen as a bona fide love interest.
The goods: "My Blueberry Nights" is gorgeous to behold, and the cast isn't ugly, either. Law, Portman, Jones and Weisz serve as beautiful ornaments in an otherwise fractured production. Ironically, the least attractive images are the cutaway shots of the blueberry pies themselves - melting ice cream turning the pastries into gloppy messes.
But Kar Wai isn't content with his sumptuous compositions. He leans on slow-motion sequences throughout the film, a clear sign of artistic desperation or simply poor judgment.
The Mandatory Extras: A "Making Of" segment gathers the film's key players, but we wish Jones would have elaborated more on making her first movie or the similarities between being a musical performer and acting. She does lend the most perspective on Kar Wai's approach, likening him to a jazz musician.
Above and Beyond: The DVD includes a Q&A with Kar Wai shot at the Museum of the Moving Image. The chat affords the viewer a richer understanding of the director's approach. He's a passionate fellow with a warm sense of humor, and he patiently answers each question in a thoughtful manner.
— Christian Toto
