#113 - My Blueberry Nights

Directed by Wong Kar Wai
2007 Romantic Drama
Rated R

** 1/2

I have been a fan of Wong Kar Wai pretty much since I was first introduced to him with his brilliant 2000 film In the Mood for Love. But when I learned he was going to be doing his first English-language film, starring jazz sultrist Norah Jones, no less, I understandably had my reservations. And while I did find things to enjoy here, and recommend it (especially to Kar Wai fans), they were sadly ultimately justified. Norah Jones, while not a bad actress, is completely wrong for the part she's given. She is given the job of being the anchor to the rest of the cast, and basically carrying the film, which she can't do. Fortunately, a uniformly superb cast is there to back her up every step of the way. Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn; they're all good (particularly Strathairn). But, and this leads to the second problem I had with the film, the story is too uninteresting to really make me care about any of them. Like I said, they all do their best, but (aside from the middle story featuring Weisz and Strathairn) I just didn't care. The final thing i'll point out is the way the film is shot; Kar Wai uses the staggered cinematography so prevalent in Chungking Express throughout a majority of the film. But unlike that film, whose fast pace fit with it so perfectly, Blueberry's slow, meandering style doesn't mesh at all. After 30 minutes it was slightly annoying; an hour or so in, and I actually started to dislike the film more because of it. In the end, however, I can recommend this film because of two reasons; this director has previously been almost infallible, and I often find a great director's missteps can be more interesting than his hits. Also, good performances from (most of) the cast and a chill soundtrack make this a good relaxing film for a Sunday afternoon.