In New York, Elizabeth (Norah Jones) has a broken heart when her boyfriend leaves her without saying goodbye. She stops by the diner of Jeremy (Jude Law) seeking out her lover, leaves his keys with Jeremy and ends the night having a conversation with him and eating a thrown away piece of blueberry pie. She arrives in the place for the next late nights and they become close, with Lizzy eating a piece of blueberry pie, until the day she drinks too much, has a blackout and is kissed by Jeremy. On the next day, she takes a bus to Memphis, Tennessee, and gets two jobs, working as waitress in the morning in a diner and as a bartender during the night in a bar and saving money to buy a car. Lizzy sends postcards to Jeremy without her address and she befriends Officer Arnie Copeland (David Strathairn),who spends the nights drinking missing his wife Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz) that left him. Later she moves to Ely, Nevada, workings as waitress in a casino, where she meets the gambler Leslie (Natalie Portman). When Leslie loses a poker game, they travel together to Las Vegas to visit Leslie's father. Then she return to New York, where she meets Jeremy again.

This classy and melancholic romance has a sweet story, great direction and performances, wonderful music score and a stunning cinematography. I was not familiarized with the wonderful voice of Norah Jones and her debut as actress is magnificent, showing a perfect chemistry with Jude Law. The excellent David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz have awesome performances in very dramatic roles, and the magnificent Natalie Portman has a different appearance with her vulgar character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Beijo Roubado" ("A Stolen Kiss")

Putting a musician (Nora Jones) in the lead was a real brave choice from Wong Kar Wai ... and one that didn't backfire! While he's not the first who's done that (see Björk and other singers turned actresses),he's movie does succeed.

Of course that is also an achievement of the other actors (such as Jude Law etc.) and the really good camera work seen here. One thing that might annoy you though is the fact that it slow moving (at times it seems not to move at all) and also seems to have no directions it's heading whatsoever. If that doesn't put you off thought, you'll see a pretty good drama/movie :o)

Elizabeth (Norah Jones) dumps her boyfriend after café owner Jeremy (Jude Law) tells her that he was in his café with another girl. She stays there eating a blueberry pie as he talks about the bowl of forgotten keys. She returns several time finding comfort talking to Jeremy. One night, she walks away, leaves NYC and drifts to Memphis where she's waitressing. One of her customer is drunken cop Arnie Copeland (David Strathairn) whose wife Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz) left him for a younger man. Elizabeth now calling herself Lizzie continues to write letters to Jeremy. Jeremy keeps trying to track her down. She finds herself as Beth waitressing in a Nevada casino. Leslie (Natalie Portman) is a busted gambler, and Beth stakes her in a game. Leslie is willing to give Beth her car if she loses or a third of her winnings.

Norah Jones is underwhelming in her performance. Her stone-faced acting is a blank in the middle of the screen. The problem is that she's not a minor character that can be hidden away. She's taking up valuable space and wasting it. All the other actors look like they're overacting just because of the bland acting from the other side. A minor problem is the slow motion blur sequences that scream trying-too-hard. Director Wong Kar Wai tries to present his cross country American vision but it's missing a beating heart. I imagine that this could be quite a compelling character in a lovely indie. Norah does make some wonderful music for the movie but it needs a real actor to play the character.