My Blueberry Nights stars Norah Jones (in her acting debut), Jude Law, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman.
Devastated, she breaks up with him and becomes a regular at the diner, arriving late at night for blueberry pie and to share stories with Jeremy.
She takes two jobs, waitress by day and bartender by night, to earn enough money to eventually purchase a car.
One of Elizabeth's regulars at both jobs is local police officer Arnie Copeland, an alcoholic who cannot accept that his wife, Sue Lynne, has left him.
One night, while off duty in Elizabeth's bar, Arnie drunkenly threatens Sue Lynne with his gun if she leaves, but he doesn't shoot her.
Before both women say goodbye to the town, Sue Lynne gives her Arnie's tab money, admitting she had made a mistake and she misses him.
When Leslie does lose, she fulfills her promise, but asks for a lift to Las Vegas to borrow money from her estranged father.
She confesses she actually won the poker game and subsequently helps Elizabeth negotiate the purchase of her dream car.
Wong expanded the idea into a road movie that would take place in other locations besides New York, as filming entirely in the state would have been too expensive.
[2] Ely's Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall, as well as its Liberty Club bar, were scouted as possible filming locations.
[2] In Making My Blueberry Nights, a bonus on the DVD release of the film, Wong reveals his first choice for Elizabeth was singer Norah Jones despite her lack of prior acting experience.
The Weinstein Company acquired the American distribution rights in November 2006, while the film was being edited by Wong and William Chang.
[14] Shortly after, a Blu-ray was released in Japan on September 29, 2008 as a Region free disc, which also contains the extras found on the DVD.
The site's critical consensus reads "Though well filmed, My Blueberry Nights is a mixed bag of dedicated performers working with thin material.
[17] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle observed, "The movie's overall story is modest, and if it were any longer the film might start to drag.
"[18] Meghan Keane of the New York Sun said the film "keenly displays Wong Kar Wai's aptitude for relationship drama and showcasing the female form, but the Chinese director's American debut often makes the earnest miscalculation of a dubbed foreign film .
[I]n translating his fascination with the distances between two people into American vernacular, Mr. Wong betrays an unfamiliarity with his subject matter that often undermines his story .
He fetishizes the American countryside, drowns his characters' sorrows in whiskey, and makes plot-oriented decisions based on aesthetics rather than continuity or logic.
The image of beautiful women in oversize sunglasses leaning against convertibles is not an accurate depiction of Americana – but it doesn't make for a bad visual.
Perry Lam of Muse Magazine compared the film to Wong's earlier work, Chungking Express, and found My Blueberry Nights "a much lesser, more ordinary affair.
The soundtrack, released on the Blue Note Records label, features tracks by the star of the film Norah Jones, Cat Power, Ry Cooder, Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla, Otis Redding, Cassandra Wilson, and Amos Lee.