My Blueberry Nights

MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS (PG-13) Jilted, Elizabeth (Norah Jones) first finds solace “crying in her beer,” or in this case, her coffee, with sympathetic café owner Jeremy (Jude Law). Desperate to forget the past, failed romance Elizabeth takes off on a soul searching journey across America where she constantly takes waitressing jobs to ease her pain and make a meager living. With no roots and no ties that bind, she pops in and out of other’s lives. All the while, she sends postcards home to Jeremy, the only true friend she seems to have.

One sequence about a cop (David Strathairn) and his estranged wife (Rachael Weisz) gets rather interesting, but it’s simply not enough to justify the rest of the winding, depressing tale of woe. Another, a long roadtrip with a edgy gambler (Natalie Portman), turns out a bit too flat to be believable.

If there is one redeeming aspect of this film, it comes from the director Kar Wai Wong and his interjection of tricky, eastern camera techniques and artsy scene sequencing. The plot itself is pure chick flick fodder. Look at your money a few moments before sending it through that little window.

Mary K. Morgan is a member of the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association. View more reviews at St. Louis Film Reviews