My Blueberry Nights

Still from My Blueberry Nights

Quintessential comfort food has got to be pie, and this forms the pretext for the movie My Blueberry nights starring singer turned actress, Norah Jones and the delicious Jude Law.

Jones plays Elizabeth, who has her heart broken and looks for solace at Jeremy’s (Law) New York diner for blueberry pie a la mode – cake and conversation. Jeremy uses pie as an analogy for life. “At the end of the night the cheesecake and the apple pie are always completely gone, peach cobbler and chocolate mousse cake nearly finished, but there is always a whole blueberry pie left untouched.”

Automatically Elizabeth asks what’s wrong with the blueberry pie, to which he replies, “there’s nothing wrong with the blueberry pie, it’s just people make other choices; you can’t blame the blueberry pie, no one wants it.” From this point on Elizabeth resigns herself to a piece of what ‘nobody wants’, making it a nightly affair – and is always welcomed by a generous slice of Jeremy’s gooey, pie that oozes out gooey, jammy blueberries and is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The movie takes a sudden ‘U’-turn with Elizabeth leaving town and heading to Memphis where she takes on two jobs, working days at a café and nights at a bar to save money to buy a car. All the while she writes postcards to Jeremy, without revealing her address. Jeremy by this time has fallen for Elizabeth and desperately tries to get in touch with Elizabeth, but fails miserably.

In time, Elizabeth returns to New York to find her ex-boyfriend's apartment for rent, crosses the street to Jeremy’s café to discovers he has been waiting for her all along, her space reserved for her at the counter and a slice of blueberry pie and conversation just like the old times, but this time they finally realise their feelings for each other.

The movie is passé with an average script, cinematography and acting, but somehow echoes the simplistic reality of how life sometimes meanders slowly, and that it does not always have to be confronting and full on as most Hollywood romantic comedies portray love, lust, life and relationships. As for the pie, I think it may be a metaphor for the way Elizabeth and Jeremy’s love grew into a comforting, easy and soothing relationship, much like the blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream.

After watching this movie, I was curious about where to score some of New York’s best blueberry pie. Funnily, there isn’t much of a forum on the matter, but from what I gather the online community seems to think Union Square Greenmarket is the best bet. If I’ve got you in the mood for a slice of blueberry pie and your not a New Yorker, stay tuned, in the coming weeks I will be uploading a tried and tested blueberry pie recipe.