Elizabeth works her way across the U.S., from New York City to Memphis, and eventually across Nevada, as a waitress. At various points, she is known as Lizzie, Betty and Beth. The theme of the divided self is made most clear in the Memphis sequence. Lizzie works during the day at a restaurant, and at night as a barmaid. Her regular customer at both places is Arnie, the upstanding law officer during the day, and the forgetful drunk at night. The bar where Elizabeth works, and where Arnie repeatedly "celebrates" his last night of drinking is also where Arnie and his ex-wife, Sue Lynne, confront each other. As in his other films, Wong examines relationships that remain stubbornly difficult for both people, and the impossibility of being free of emotional bonds, set against a soundtrack featuring Otis Redding singing "Try a Little Tenderness".

Just as My Blueberry Nights remains Wong's film in theme and subject, as well as choice of characters, so it remains a Wong film visually. Even though Wong's films are said to be improvised, random pausing of the DVD seems to indicate a precision to the visuals. Darius Khondji has become Wong's cinematographer, bathing shots in blue or red lights, opening the film with extreme close-ups of what is eventually understood to be pie a la mode. Several of the elements of My Blueberry Nights seem to be reworked from Chunking Express. One major difference is that at one point Wong breaks from the claustrophobic settings of his previous films to enjoy the wide open spaces of Nevada. The shots of the empty Nevada sky contrast with Wong's Hong Kong settings of tenements and skyscrapers. Just as Elizabeth travels around the U.S., only to return to New York City, Wong Kar-Wai has travelled to new environments, as in here and in Happy Together. The landscapes and languages may be different, but as a meditation on love, memory and food, My Blueberry Nights has everything one has learned to expect from Wong Kar-Wai's cinematic kitchen. The cherry on top is one of the best screen kisses on film.