CANNES : My Blueberry Nights marks the debut of songstress Norah Jones as an actress. It also marks the debut of Shanghai born and Hong Kong based helmer Wong Kar Wai in English language cinema. And by any yardstick, the film makes the cut. It did not draw the loud applause that Alejandro's Innarutu's Pan's Labiyrinth did last year; it drew muted claps from the audience consisting of journalists who missed the morning show. But that's exactly it: Kar Wai has dealt with his first foray into American cinema cautiously. He has kept the movie simple, not complex like his earlier films. Hence classic Kar Wai officinados may not get excited by the film but lovers of romantic movies will.

The film follows the journey of love-lorn heart-broken jilted New Yorker Elizabeth (Norah Jones). She finds out that she has been dumped by her boyfriend of five years, and leaves her house keys with a diner owner Jeremy (Jude Law) where her boyfriend regularly eats. She then frequents the eatery regularly munching blueberry pies and icecreams, and develops a relationship with Law - who has played sugary sweet young man. She then choses to leave New York in order to heal; she does not want to be the same Elizabeth.

She travels across the US working in diners, casinos, and bars, until she discovers her true love lies back in the big Apple in Jeremy (Jude Law). Along the way she travels to Nevada, Memphis, Las Vegas where she encounters various individuals who are grappling with addiction probems of their own: an alcoholic, an attractive gambler (Natalie Portman) and a policeman who can't get over his love for his wife (Rachel Weisz) who wants to be left alone. She watches them from close as they come in to either eat or drink or gamble and even develops a relationship with them. She sees their angst, their pain from close. In the process, she comes to terms with her heartbreak. All through she continues her correspondence with Jeremy and she finally returns to him. "You've changed," says Jeremy. "Or maybe you have not. And I have."

Kar Wai uses symbolism to portray the commencement of a deeper relationship in the form of a kiss which Law gives to Jones as she lies on the diner table asleep with icecream traces on her forelip. Unlike earlier in the film, she responds strongly, kissing him back. No words like I love you are exchanged, they don't seem necessary.

The film has the classic Kar Wai touch: Iranian cinematographer Darius Khondji has shot the film beautifully and brought things close up that we simply ignore like a door handle, the view from a closed circuit camera. The film has a grainy feel to it too, it draws you in to middle class America. Kar Wai has not made his actors look extraordinarily beautiful or good to stare at; they are normal people you encounter in real life with all their phobias and complexes, fears and strengths. And that's the reason some people might find them cliched and banal.

The musical score, the selection of songs adds to the films aesthetic almost etheral beauty. Where Kar Wai fails is in the fact that he does not exploit the visual brilliance that America's countryside and highways offer apart from a few passing shots.

Jones has clearly emerged as an actor to watch out for, though she says she will be touring and does not know if she will do another movie (read: she is looking for offers). She downplays her character until it is almost beleivable. And she stands well against Weisz, Portman and Law.

Kar Wai wanted to make a movie featuring Jones as an actress and he has.