Starring Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin
Directed by Woody Allen
With 2011s Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen confirmed that he could still spin an enchanting, whimsical tale capped with a charming epiphany. His newest film is an even more impressive accomplishment. A piercing character study of a woman teetering at the precipice of a complete breakdown, Blue Jasmine examines precisely how destructive delusion can be while offering few assurances that its central character will emerge from her travails any wiser.
Blue Jasmine is a tale of two cities and two distinctly different times. In flashbacks, Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) lives a life of luxury in Manhattan, remaining in blissful denial that her investment banker husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) is a Madoff-level scumbag. In present day San Francisco, shes turned up penniless but packing Vuitton luggage on the doorstep of her blue collar sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). With Hal having received his comeuppance (the details of which are patiently revealed), shes left to rebuild her life using the extremely limited skill-set that privilege has afforded her.
Initially, this fish out of Evian water scenario elicits comedy, as the aloof, haughty Jasmine recoils from her doughy nephews and employs casual charm as a pejorative. However, it becomes quite apparent that reality is the milieu shes most ill-suited for. Blanchett uncovers just the right pitiful undertones to lend Jasmines fond recollections of better days. Its increasingly unsettling to watch her repeat these anecdotes ad nauseum, as if they were incantations that might undue the curse shes currently enduring. And as Jasmine psyche begins to come apart at the well-tailored seams, Allen and Blanchett masterfully conspire to orchestrate a truly enthralling tragedy.
