Rated PG-13
Running time: 1 hr 30 mins
**1/2 out of *****
(47% Fresh Rating!)
The premise:
A young woman takes a soul-searching journey across America to resolve her questions about love while encountering a series of offbeat characters along the way.
MY REVIEW
My Blueberry Nights is virtually a film with no end in sight, storywise. There doesn't appear to be a specific purpose for the film, there's almost no point to it's existence. At least that's what I gathered from watching the movie. Blueberry Nights may be one of the most boring and most incredibly slow paced films of 2008. It's not one of the ten worsts movies of the year (despite my one star rating), but it's just a movie that leaves you feeling like you really accomplished nothing while watching it. Theres no overall moral to the story that you can take away from it all and try applying to your life. This is just a filler movie. Fills up empty spaces of time in your day.
The movie follows a young woman, played very dully and ameteurly by musician Norah Jones. This is her first acting gig, so I can't judge her performance too much. The story follows her after she has her heart broken by a cheating boyfriend, accross the country as she apparently tries to discover her true self. Sound a bit corny and cliche? Well, that's exactly what it is. On her travels she meets a diner owner played by Oscar nominee Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain), a depressed drunkard cop played by Oscar nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) the younger and senile ex-wife of said drunk, played by Oscar winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardner) and a tricky and deceitful woman poker player played by Oscar nominee Natalie Portman (Closer). I just threw a lot of talent into the mix. The main cast has a total of five acting Oscar nominations, and none of them showed that deserving talent in this film.
Strathairn, who only has about eight minutes of actual screentime, is probably the best of the cast. But even he strays a little to far away from being good. Weisz tries to pull off a southern accent, and she really just sounds foolish. Portman, also doing a southern accent, is just terrible in this movie. Her performance is almost childish and I really couldn't take her seriously as an actress this time around. Law was pretty good, but he really doesn't have that much actual screentime during the bulk of the movie. He appears throughout the movie, namely in one or two minute scenes, and he does end up being the guy the main girl falls for, but he is reduced to a very limited role. Norah Jones shows why she is better at being a singer than an actress, and that's all I'll say about that.
I'd love to give this movie props for artistic reasons, but I can't. The direction, while I think trying to be fresh and original, just ends up being nothing more than slowed down, shaky camera effects that just don't look appealing. You'd have to see it to understand, but I don't reccomend seeing it. My Blueberry Nights never showed much promise in it's preview, so in that regard, it definitely did not dissapoint!
To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Blueberry Nights*This is the 111th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.
*This film is now on DVD.
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