Genre: Drama
Tagline: there isn’t one so I’m just going to say, home is where the pie is
Ebert gave it: 2.5
I went in to the movie knowing nothing…hell I didn’t even realize Norah Jones was in it until I got I looked up show times! So to end a busy Sunday, my friend and I chose My Blueberry Nights out of intrigue and the fact that it was playing at my favorite theatre off the Lincoln Center Subway stop. The only thing I could figure out by the previews was that there was going to be a lot of color and maybe it was going to be more artsy than anything else. I was right, but I think the movie doesn’t end with visuals, I think it is unique and although deals with topics we are all familiar with – heartbreak, love, tragedy and the need for change – it doesn’t disappoint in plot and acting.
Jeremy (Jude Law) owns a little café in New York, the kind of place you’d find on a side street down in the lower east side. He loves to feed people, and enjoys making desserts whether they are popular with the clientele because, well, someone might want them someday. Just like with people I guess, he also keeps a jar full of keys that represent break ups, keeping them around in case anyone wants to reopen that can of worms. And enters Elizabeth (Norah Jones…you will also hear much of her music throughout…wonder how they swung that!) and luck has it she has a key and a broken heart. Elizabeth is on a mission to find out what her man ate at this little café and who dined with him…and in go the key.
Depressed and alone she finds herself with mascara down her cheek alone with Jeremy who offers her the only thing that could possibly make her feel better –blueberry pie. This becomes a tradition, a sort of treatment for Elizabeth (but we never see the treatment go to her ass…just sayin). Unable to escape the ghost of her last relationship and apparently not interested in Jeremy’s interesting stories about the discarded key jar, she up and moves to Memphis to wait tables and escape. Here Elizabeth is able to step back and not feel for a while, watching another heartbreak from a far between Arnie and his wife wearing the scarlet letter. Speaking of letters…her and Jeremy stay in touch but he never knows where she goes. After another rock bottom (not hers) she moves to Vegas (baby!) and works as a waitress in a casino where she meets Leslie (Natalie Portman). After a change in name (Beth), a few changes in scenery, a few heartbreaks – she returns to New York (as we all will).
Norah Jones surprised me, she was actually great. I think partly because she is so doe eyed and naïve at the beginning only to grow and bloom throughout – just like her character. Jude Law is also cute, a little quirky…but I must say it was not his best role. I found the scenes in Memphis to be most heartbreaking, putting Elizabeth’s breakup to shame. The best part of the movie is the camera work – the angles, the colors, all lead to an interesting viewing experience. Even the kiss scene (won’t say with who!) is shot in a very creative way. Although the plot doesn’t keep you on your toes, the camera work will – I love the scenes when we are looking in through the writing on the windows. It was a very arty movie, not your typical love story – its more of a unlove story. No matter where you escape to love will fail, people will fail, you will fail – it’s inevitable but with a slice of blueberry pie and a look from Jude Law it can all seem better…or you’ll pass out from stuffing your face…ha.
My Rating: 
I enjoyed watching this one, I love movies that show you that others have it worse than you sometimes, and sometimes they get better and sometimes they don’t – and in this case the audience doesn’t only see it, but the characters do too.
