Film Review: My Blueberry Nights

Note: This is the last in my series of backtracking through the movies I have seen in the past two months and haven’t had time to review. I'll be posting reviews from my triple-feature from a weeks ago soon, and it'll be fresh stuff from then on.

My Blueberry Nights
Directed by Wong Kar Wai
Released April 4, 2008
Seen May 5, 2008

For those who don’t know, Wong Kar Wai is a Chinese director whose films are always extremely artistic and colorful, and more than often purposely sparse on plot. I have only seen “In the Mood for Love” out of his work, which is an interesting film in which surprisingly little actually happens, but I appreciate it as a quality film. His latest effort, his first American film, is a different kind of experience. He casts some terrific actors in various colorful locales and follows (I use this word lightly) their journeys. The movie is definitely intoxicating, and it’s quite easy to get sucked in. Once there, however, the movie doesn’t go very far. While lengthy shots that look like a car advertisement are fascinating for a moment, the film feels truly disjointed and aimless. If that’s supposed to be the point, and I believe it is, the elements of the movie aren’t fulfilling enough left as disorganized as they are. It’s definitely a beautiful film, and one which might be just as effective with the sound off, save of course for a fascinating performance from Natalie Portman which almost makes the whole thing worth it. Norah Jones takes on her first acting job here, and the result is intriguing – she’s terrific in all her scenes with Jude Law, but otherwise, she fizzles and it’s not that pretty. If you want to get lost in thought for an hour and a half, this film is a good way to go, but overall it needs just a bit more spark to make it worthwhile.

C+