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The 60th Cannes Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night with the world premiere screening of My Blueberry Nights, the first American film from acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love, 2046), starring singer Norah Jones ("Don't Know Why") in her big screen debut alongside Oscar nominees Jude Law, David Strathairn, Natalie Portman, and Oscar winner Rachel Weisz. With a first-rate cast delighted to be working with an internationally-admired director (Weisz told me in December 2005 that she wanted to work with Wai more than any other director), the film was a sure-bet, right? Apparently, wrong, based on the predominately unfavorable responses from critics in attendance. The general consensus seems to be that My Blueberry Nights, once presumed to be a likely end-of-the-year awards contender, is nothing more than a wordy road movie with some impressive visuals. This cannot be anything but a huge blow to The Weinstein Company, which Bob and Harvey Weinstein have been struggling to get off the ground since parting ways with Miramax in September 2005. It's hard to know who or what is to blame for this trend, but a common denominator in their under-performing films seems to be Law (Cold Mountain, Breaking and Entering, and now this), who may not have the stuff to be a credible leading man, as Chris Rock controversially suggested while hosting the 2005 Oscars. Who knows? I'm told that the one major redeeming thing about My Blueberry Nights is a visually stunning scene featuring a slow-motion, extended Law-Jones kiss, about which Jones said she was nervous, but which apparently wowed the Cannes audience. Jones said at a press conference: "The kiss was the moment that Kar Wai had the most direction about. He was so excited when we did that scene. He knew exactly what he wanted and we shot it for a long time." Law added, "He was very clear that this tiny moment in these two people's lives was also a turning point. It struck me that we tend to make films that are about huge moments, years, in everyone's lives. But lives change in a moment. It was clear that when we filmed the kiss it was a moment that was going to change their lives."