As our avid readers will know, I've been gagging for this for ages. Wong Kar Wai is probably my favorite living director, with the possible exception of Terrence Malick, and, despite certain major reservations (Jude Law; Rachel Weisz, see below), I was fascinated by how this, his first American film, would turn out.
Wong's American odyssey tells the story of broken-hearted Elisabeth (Norah Jones) who, after the failure of her relationship with the love of her life, strikes up a relationship with a sweet and charming cafe owner Jeremy (Law) before taking off on a road trip across America and meeting an assembly of motley characters along the way without ever quite leaving Jeremy behind in New York.
I can't help but feel that this could have been so much better than it is. Pretty much everything falls below, if often only just below, those impeccably high standards Wong has set for himself following his spectacular resume. Wong is without oft used cinematographer, the one and only Christopher Doyle, and it shows. The cinematography - particularly the beautiful and exotic contrasts between the sensuous blues and reds that linger like homeless raindrops in the delicate New York night - is good, but it's not great. The acting is good, but it's not great. The dialogue is good, but it's not great. The story and the narrative drive are good but neither are great. The... well, you get the idea. Take the acting - I just can't, in all honestly, swap Tony Leung, the greatest living actor, for Jude Law without accepting that something has been lost. I also cannot believe Wong cast Rachel Weisz in this and my opinion of him has gone down as a result. Weisz is a terrible actress, although she's not as bad here as she often is and I was genuinely shocked to hear she had been cast in this.
Whilst Law is categorically not Leung, he deserves credit here. He gives a subtle and measured performance as Jeremy and must take great credit for the chemistry between his character and Elisabeth which, at times, lights up the film and provides - by far - its best moments. He is, however, eclipsed by debutant Jones. Jones, who has achieved previous fame as a (forgive me Norah) MOR musician, lights up this film. She is as sweet and sensuous throughout - particularly in the excellent scenes with Law - as the bubbling and foaming blueberry pie that interposes itself occasionally on the action. She is the best thing in it and her performance is some achievement for a debut. Wong clearly has an ability to draw great performances out of non-professional actors and actresses. He does here with Jones what he did, in Chungking Express, with a fresh faced and extraordinarily charismatic Faye Wong, though the characters are as different as cheese and blueberry pie.
For me, this is a film of might have beens. The whole thing could have been great but it ends up being merely good. More should have been made of the scenes between Beth and Jeremy and a potentially interesting sideline, involving the always excellent and underrated David Strathairn, is not developed enough. The storyline involving the poker-playing, deceptive, Leslie (Natalie Portman) is unsatisfactory and very unfulfilling, especially in the film's overall context.
This is, by quite some distance, Wong's 'worst' film I've seen and the only one that doesn't earn a recommendation quality grade. That doesn't make it bad but it does, regrettably, make it a disappointment.
B
