Review of Blue Jasmine

Ripping the elite and prestigious a new one is a hobby that Hollywood appears to have taken a liking to. And given the age we live in, why not? But now, Woody Allen has thrown his hat into the ring, and Blue Jasmine, his latest annual entry (does this guy ever get tired?), represents not only a blisteringly tough and multi-layered look at a high-society individual's fall from grace, but also his best movie since 2005's Match Point. This is a far more serious film than we're accustomed to seeing from Allen. It offers its share of laughs, but many are of the dark, unsettling variety. Guided by a career-best performance from Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine is a compulsively watchable character study that ropes you in and keeps you hooked despite spending so much time with a deplorable main character. It puts a human face on someone we would ordinarily curse at from a distance.

When Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) arrives in San Francisco to move in with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins) the film wastes no time letting us in on this unhinged woman's state of mind. Once the pampered trophy wife of Wall Street wizard Hal (Alec Baldwin), Jasmine has become broke after the FBI arrested Hal for illegal activities and repossessed her home and assets. Hal committed suicide in prison, leaving Jasmine no choice but to move and start a new life. But she has incredible difficulties coping with a "normal" life. She's snobbish toward people she believes to be "beneath" her and criticizes her sister's taste in seemingly boorish men, which include her ex-husband Augie (Andrew Dice Clay) and current boyfriend Chilli (Bobby Cannavale). Her attempts to finish college, keep a steady job, and find a new man in her life do not go as planned. 

It's tough to overstate how impacting Cate Blanchett's performance is. She's a one-time Oscar winner, but her work here is so forceful that it eclipses every role she's ever played. Jasmine's drug/alcohol addiction and tendency to talk to herself out loud in public allows Blanchett to display a lot of high-strung tantrums, but the actress is equally as expressive with her face as she is with her multitude of dialogue. For every instance when Jasmine appears to be doing the right thing (she quits a job when her boss sexually harasses her and has a solid point or two about her sister's taste in men), there are many more when she's clearly wrecking her comeback attempt. While Allen's multi-layered script is noteworthy, Blanchett sells this character from the very first shot, and she's the main reason we stick with this narcissistic woman rather than fight the urge to get up and walk out.

Blue Jasmine is a character study, and as such, it contains very little in terms of plot or narrative thrust. The constant cutting back-and-forth between current day San Francisco and her privileged live in New York occasionally feel disconcerting, but a key scene late in the film reveals Allen's reasoning for structuring it this way. Every character retains three-dimensionality; Ginger and Chilli's relationship is well-developed, and the introduction of a potential suitor for Jasmine in the person of politician Dwight (Peter Sarsgard) is superb in how it causes Jasmine's desire for a luxurious lifestyle to come rushing back. One plot development involving Ginger's love-life isn't surprising, but a later one regarding Hal's arrest is. It's a powerful twist, and it succeeds in placing everything we know so far about Jasmine in a slightly different context. That's a key strength of Blue Jasmine; just when we think we know exactly how a character is and how his/her situation will play out, Allen adds a new layer.

Blanchett is the undisputed star, but every supporting player shines brightly at every opportunity. Hawkins (donning a flawless American accent) and Cannavale are memorable, and Alec Baldwin once again oozes charm as the hotshot whose philandering and hubris lead to his downfall. But most impressive of all is the work that Allen culls from two comedians, one current and one former. Louis C.K. is effectively low-key and unrecognizable in a small but interesting role, and Andrew Dice Clay displays great presence and ability as Ginger's ex-husband Augie. Clay is so impressive here that a second act as a character actor could be in his future.

Watching Blue Jasmine, I felt like I was experiencing a real film rather than a product. Sure, it has Oscars in mind, especially for its lead, but it's the kind of movie that will impress just about anyone with its keen observations on elitism, mental illness, and relationships. On the surface, Jasmine's immediate problem appears to be her addictions and superficiality, but as the movie progresses, we understand that her most powerful addiction is to an unhealthy, unsustainable lifestyle that she'll never get back. In that sense, perhaps living it in the first place was her greatest mistake. Woody Allen has been known to rarely travel west of New York for any movie he makes in the United States, but if filming in the West Coast produces a film this strong, perhaps he should do it more often.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)