DVD review: My Blueberry Nights

Reviewers have given Wong Kar-Wai's western debut short shrift, but its loose structure and woozy, boozy, bluesy nights have a warm charm that echoes his best work (Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love) and this is a far better east-west transposition than some esteemed Oriental directors (Takeshi Kitano and Chen Kaige spring to mind) have managed. Of course, Wong was always halfway to America in mood — his Hong Kong breakthrough was drenched in the Mamas and Papas' California Dreamin' and threw in a little Dinah Washington. Here, scripting in cahoots with mystery novelist Lawrence Black, Wong mixes Ry Cooder with Otis Redding and the film's star, Norah Jones to create a Nighthawks at the Diner feel that's more Tom Waits wryness than Edward Hopper alienation. Jones is a novice in this context, but her character, disillusioned but trusting, is there to learn life lessons from the likes of Jude Law, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman, so her hesitancy fits the part. Mind you, if you even know anyone from Manchester, you'll cringe at Jude Law's approximation of a Mancunian accent; by contrast, Weisz localises convincingly as Strathairn's sour Memphis wife. The themes are Wong perennials — the joys of food, drink and smoking (the BMA won't like it) and the difficulty of relationships. It's an easy, relaxed road movie and does its thing without dipping into Waitress-style sentimentality.