My Blueberry Nights
Going in to see this film, I had high hopes. This film looked to be quite good, with such a stellar cast and all. As it started however, I felt less than satisfied after the first ten minutes through.
First of all, the camera quality was poor when Elizabeth and Jeremy are in the cafe at the beginning of their getting-to-know-each-other through eating pies and sharing stories. Later, however, the camera quality did clear up to what it should be looking like in the 21st century. The transitions from scene to scene were fast, unneccessarily so, just like the occasional subway train that was shot every five minutes Elizabeth was in New York. I never got the point of the subway shots anyway.
The sporadic closeup shots of actual pies melting together created a feeling of stickiness and tawdryness instead of the intended deliciousness, I suppose, that Wong was aiming for.
As for Norah Jones' acting, she should stick to crooning her little heart out, or get some acting lessons. Honestly, the only thing I liked about Jones was the song she sung for the film, "The Story", which is currently on repeat as I am writing. Jones did a so-so job of playing the wide-eyed, naive young woman on a journey across the country to find whatever she's looking for. Or is she roaming around just to get away from that second story apartment her cheating ex-boyfriend inhabits? Who knows.
At Elizabeth's various jobs she works at in the different cities she travels to, she comes across a few broken souls she befriends. Sue Lynne, played by Rachel Weisz, is like Elizabeth in a way, wandering around aimlessly away from the husband she left, Arnie, trying to find something to be comfortable in. And Arnie, a cop no less, comes to the bar that Elizabeth works at at night, and gets wasted, mooning over his sad life without Sue Lynne. When Arnie and Sue Lynne finally confront each other in a loud and dramatic verbal spat, we periodically see Elizabeth, watching and witnessing the drama unfold before her eyes.
(Just as a side note, I've noticed that in movies when people are drunk, they make themselves so obviously drunk. You can always tell when they are because they are slumping around and yelling at anyone who ticks them off. Emotions are always high when someone is drunk in a film. My Blueberry Nights is no exception.)
Natalie Portman plays a disoriented gambler, Leslie, who gives Elizabeth an offer she can't refuse. When Leslie tells Elizabeth that she lied to her about winning the pot of poker money, I'm miffed that Jones' character didn't slap her in the face. That's what any real person would have done. However, timid and trusting Elizabeth would never do that. Another thing about Jones' character Elizabeth was that she kept changing her name wherever she went, from Elizabeth to Lizzie to Beth. I suppose that's an indication of how much she wants to be a different person in each different place she goes.
Now, Portman is my favorite actress in the whole world, however, the lines she was given for this film were absolutely terrible. Even she could not save them from total self- destruction. In fact, each line delivered felt tacky and unoriginal. We've all seen and heard it before.
I have to say that the only remotely exciting thing in this movie was Jude Law's character, Jeremy, a lively, optimistic fellow who somehow falls for Elizabeth's dreary state of mind. I can only say one thing: any woman would love to have Jeremy remove ice cream traces from their lips with his.
One more thing, the girl who plays Katya, Jeremy's ex, is a terrible actress. I was cringing when she was talking. And she obviously doesn't know how to smoke a cigarette.
I suppose I will give this film some credit for effort, and a star cast. But other than that, the story is meek-minded, the script needs serious work, and the camera angles should let the shots be more out in the open, instead of hidden behind foggy windows and security cameras. I guess Wong Kar Wai wanted to make his first English film authentic with the stamp of his name on it. But all he ended up with was a poorly thought out 90 minute roll of tape. Perhaps the actors felt weary too after filming this, 'cause that's certainly what the audience felt.
Posted on 04/19/08 by:
MySharona10
12:19 AM
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