Anyone else feeling strange about the non-Asian cast?

yes it felt really strange to have a non asian cast... things just seemed not to fit. also the actors chosen did such a terrible job. (only outstanding performace being david strathairn's). so it's not only we being cut of a usual cast of brilliant actors (such as tony leung etc etc) but also being presented a cast that fails constantly.

where i disagree with you is when you say the movie was good. i was very much disappointed with it, and not only because of the actors. besides that the characters had no depht, the story didn't seem "finished", no consistency.. so everything seemed pretty pointless to me.

the photography was excellent, yes, as wong kar-wai's always is, but this time it didn't serve the purpose of telling a story. it seemed like an "effect", a filter, something to make the empty plotline seem interesting... while in his previous movies the beautiful photography is used with a purpose.

as someone else said in this board, it seemed like some art student trying to make a wong kar-wai movie.

let's hope next time we return to good times of fallen angels (for example) also one of my favorite movies, as many others of his.

don't feel wierd at all. This is Wong Kar Wai's first English movie, and he did something different and worked with different people. I don't think it's that big of a deal what ethnic backgrounds the actors are from. I thought it worked well with the actors they used and I respect the director for doing something different.

I'm not a fan of WKW. I've never seen any of his other movies and, after this, I have no intention of doing so. However, your post has sparked a thought. Perhaps the reason that this film was so awful is for the very reason that you mentioned. This WKW guy is probably operating on cultural assumptions that are just odd to Americans. With an Asian cast, even set in America, I might have been able to maintain the suspension of disbelief. However, as it stands, I constantly found myself thinking that every line of dialog, every reaction and even the cinematography was just wrong wrong wrong.

Hi

I should say that we share the exact same opinion about the movie. I'm Korean and a big fan of Wong's movies. But this one was pretty disappointing to be honest.

I just can't agree with you more. After watching this movie, the first thing came up to my mind was that something in this movie didn't really fit. It didn't fit. The whole thing was just didn't fit. I mean, the movie itself wasn't that bad, it wasn't a bad story and even acting wasn't that bad(Rachel Weise?? sorry about the spell, her acting was great though)but i think the whole thing just didn't need to be filmed in America!!! It just doesn't have to be America! Guys think about it, if everything had been flimed in China or Hongkong, it would have been more natural. For example, like Wong's other movie like <In the Mood for Love>,everytime i think of the movie with non Asian actors with the same story i think the movie will be awkward. <My Blueberry Nights>'s background is stange also. I still don't understand why they put LasVegas there. I mean the whole thing didn't even seem like America at all.

I would give around 6.5 or 7 to this movie. It was disappointing for Wong Kar Wai's flims. My personal favorite of his works is <Chunking Express> or <Happy Together>.

the very fact that an attractive man would stay single forever as a bartender because he got dumped by a girl, and a girl would cry so hard that she might actually kill herself over some jerk dumping her is enough to show that it's more suitable for an asian cinema... (or culture even) but i enjoyed it tho, think the whole thing's really poetic, strangely reminds me of his chungking express a bit.