Blue Jasmine (2013) User Reviews (519)

One of Woody Allen's most unsuspecting heavyweight films in a long time.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 8/10 · 9 August 2013]

Sometimes it feels like Woody Allen is deliberately hit and miss. Every other film appears to be a winner so it's become easy to just skip the mediocre ones. I thought Midnight In Paris was pretty good but I felt like its idea wasn't explored well enough and it became too repetitive. Blue Jasmine is a film that feels like it'll be another basic story at first then as the tragedy slowly unravels, it becomes all the more fascinating. At first the film's structure of flashbacking without transition is a little frustrating as the present time doesn't give you much to chew on in the first place, but it soon becomes clear that this was the only way to tell this brilliant and complex story of a woman's place in the world. Cate Blanchett is setting the reviews on fire and she certainly deserves it. I've always loved her engrossing theatrical style in films like The Aviator and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I've missed her since.

Here she is in full force as she switches from glamour to glare seamlessly and effortlessly. Blanchett has often played strong women and she tiptoes the line of Jasmine's strength and vulnerability both with and without sympathy. It's incredible to watch. Although I was concerned I was going to only appreciate the performance and not connect with the character, I ended up finding her struggle to feel useful in the working world and not knowing how to achieve her ambitions to cut deep into the first world human anxieties about identity and self- worth. It's great to have a film that addresses those issues so earnestly, without feeling self- pitying. Although the spotlight is on her, there's plenty of room for the supporting players to shine with the delightful comic relief performances from Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlberg and Max Casella and deceptively charming performances from Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay and Peter Sarsgaard. The real talent on the side belongs to Sally Hawkins and Bobby Cannavale who give compelling and heartbreaking performances.

I like how Allen has such confidence in his shooting style of simple wides and closeups that he doesn't let it get in the way of the story but sometimes it does feel bland rather than just Woody's brand. It sometimes feels like the story is taking uninteresting broad strokes with its archetypes but when the details come in like a mystery novel, they enrichen the story and leave just before they drown you making you want more. Perhaps Allen could've made a better job of making me intrigued in the details but that makes the pay-offs all the more sweeter. However, I'm not quite sure what to make of the ending, perhaps Allen is trying to say there's some people who can and can't be fixed, I'm not sure, but it's a fascinating tragic comic tale nonetheless. Maybe it's intended as a punishment film regarding the sin of greed. That would make sense though it wouldn't be as satisfying. It's been compared to A Streetcar Named Desire a lot but I don't remember much of that story despite having seen it twice. I think I prefer Blue Jasmine. One of Allen's most unsuspecting heavyweight films in a long time.

8/10

This movie worked best as a short course on great acting

[socrates99 · 8/10 · 30 January 2014]

I confess, I don't usually enjoy Woody Allen movies. There's too much fretting about relationships, and there's too much talking. This, however, was an unexpected, pleasant surprise. The key to the plot all devolves from Jasmine's marriage to a New York financial whiz of questionable integrity. Alec Baldwin hits the part out of the park which allows the movie to spend its quality time exploring the toxic relationship to wealth some people have.

The second most salient plot element is Jasmine's adoptive sister, Ginger, played by Sally Hawkins, who is as unforgettably effective as the other leads. As a guy, I've known women exactly like her, and I would be surprised if any woman in the audience didn't. The interaction between Ginger and Jasmine keeps the entire movie roiling. It involves her sister taking Jasmine in despite her having looked down on her since she became rich.

We're also treated to excellent performances in smaller roles by Andrew Dice Clay, and, my favorite, Bobby Cannavale, as Ginger's boyfriend, Chili. There's even more to be said about the acting than just these standouts that I won't include for the sake of brevity, but suffice it to say, it's all top notch.

The real payoff here is what Mr Allen is choosing to depict of those whose life is overly dependent on wealth. Woody Allen had always seemed fairly indifferent to wealth to me, so I imagined he wanted to protect those who had it, which put me off. But that's not the case here. Mr Allen is quite pointed about what's out there in terms of financial hazards, and how it can destroy lives.

As to Cate Blanchett there is something odd going on with her in this movie. I've seen many great performances by actresses, in particular, but never one that seemed as if the actress was somehow only devoting maybe 90% of her skill to a difficult role, and still she pulls it off brilliantly! That missing 10% is somehow not acting and with us, the audience, as her real self, quite conscious of the moment, and it's like spending time with an attractive woman. It's almost as if we're also actors and she's showing us only enough for us to see what she's capable of. She thinks she can trust us to understand where she's taking her performance, and somehow it works. This is the most wonderful acting by an actress I've seen this winter, a real delight, and I can't imagine her being bested at the Oscars.

So, in short, I'm surprised to find that this is my favorite Woody Allen movie for a variety of reasons, and I highly recommend it.

Good...but not THAT good

[madbeast · 6/10 · 29 July 2013]

One of the better movies Woody Allen has put out in recent years, featuring superior performances by Cate Blanchett as an emotionally unstable woman forced to come down from her privileged past and Sally Hawkins as her enabling lower-income sister. Allen's screenplay is often amusing although it meanders at times (I looked at my watch more than once during the screening I attended) and its story seems uncomfortably reminiscent of "A Streetcar Named Desire" with Blanchett in the Blanche DuBois role, Sally Hawkins as Stella, Peter Sarsgaard as Mitch and Bobby Cannavale as Stanley Kowalski. It lacks the dramatic power and sexual tension of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece and in the end, Allen's urbane sophistication doesn't make up for it.

There is a tendency in recent years to either over-praise Allen or rip him to shreds. I don't think this film deserves either fate, being an enjoyably diverting if occasionally pretentious and derivative comedy/drama. It may not belong in the pantheon of great Woody Allen movies like "Annie Hall" or "Manhattan" but it's no "Curse of the Jade Scorpion" or "Celebrity" either. If it didn't have the Woody Allen brand on it, I suspect that it would quickly come and go without notice as a fairly well-made independent drama with some nice acting that has some gripping sequences while ultimately being a little on the dull side. Because of Allen's enduring reputation, it will probably pick up an Oscar nomination or two (for Blanchett's performance and for Allen's questionably "original" screenplay) because Allen's name still carries cache with the taste arbiters. It had too many dull stretches and redundant exchanges for that kind of attention for my money, but its high points made me feel like there were worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

best Woody Allen film in ages

[jamesdamnbrown · 3 August 2013]

I thought this was Woody Allen's best film in years. The script was better written than I expected from him at this point, given his more recent turns toward drama, and the laughs are often derived as much from the dark humor in the characters' situations as from snappy punch lines. Kudos to Cate Blanchett who turns in a stellar performance, actors sometimes broadly interpret Woody's neurotic characters for comedic effect, more the way Woody would play the role (think Judy Davis), but Cate very effectively plays it straight and my guess is she'll be taking home the next best actress Oscar. For me the biggest surprise was Andrew Dice Clay, who gives a surprising nuanced performance as a working class guy bitter about having been screwed over by big shots, and in some ways his character morally anchors the film. Good job, Woody.

OK but not up to the best Woody Allen

[cristiancordoba33 · 6/10 · 9 January 2014]

is a good movie but it's not the best of Allen ...does not have the complexity of"Melinda And Melina" nor the dramatic depth of Annie Hall...but with great actresses like Cate Blanchett all is best ... is inspired in the"Madoff Asunto" but the lack of depth of history wasted what could have been a good psychological thriller...is wasted to a great actor like Alec Baldwin granting him only fleeting appearances and it seems that Allen's films while less wealth script are more colorful are the photograph as to compensate (I remember Manhattan in black and white or opacity of Annie Hall that not undermined the excellent screenplay) My final words: you have to see it because it's Woody...is acceptable ... and it can enjoy the Cate Blanchett beauty

Blanche and Stella in Woodyland

[littlemartinarocena · 9/10 · 24 November 2013]

What a treat! Cate Blanchett gives a stunning performance as a Blanche-like character written and directed by the most prolific American author of the last 40 years. Cate seems to be an actress without emotional borders. Jasmine walks a very tight rope, her sense of despair etched in her magnificent face vanishes ipso facto when she meets Peter Sarsgaard. She realizes in a sort of disbelief -extraordinary, heartbreaking and horribly funny moment - that he could be the rescue raft in her own personal tsunami. Sally Hawkins, another stroke of genius in the casting department, is a profoundly human creature very much the Stella of the situation. This two sisters, adopted both from different parents are also from different, if immediately recognizable, universes. I could go on and on but I'm not going to, I just wanted to urge you, in this times of 3D super extra loud marvel sequels, to run and see it.

Sad, sad movie.

[sadriano · 6/10 · 5 October 2013]

Very sad movie.If I had my suspects that Woody Allen hated women with this movie I had full confirmation.His portrait of these 2 female characters is very mean.Cate Blanchett is exceptional in the lead and certainly deserves a nomination.t's a movie by a sour old guy who no longer likes anything or anyone and who also, just isn't interested.I guess there are 2 categories of opinions about this movie, the ones who are going to love it and the ones who just don't buy it, like myself.The plot center are these two sisters whose world revolves around finding a prince charming who is going to rescue and save them forever.The more sophisticated has higher standards, and the sublime Cate personifies her well.The trashy sister gets involved with trashy men.But both are very detrimental stereotypes of women.

Woody's Sharply Rendered Update of "Streetcar" Anchored by Blanchett's Brilliant Blanche-Like Turn

[EUyeshima · 9/10 · 3 August 2013]

If you want to see this year's master class in screen acting, you need to watch Cate Blanchett's mesmerizing performance as Jasmine French, a delusional Park Avenue socialite wife in Woody Allen's 45th directorial effort, a sly, bicoastal update of Tennessee Williams' classic "A Streetcar Named Desire". As the film opens, her impeccably dressed character has hit rock bottom after her financial wizard of a husband is arrested and her assets are liquidated. In the throes of a nervous breakdown, she arrives in San Francisco and moves in with her kind- hearted sister Ginger who lives a modest, blue-collar life in a tiny apartment on the edge of the Mission – on South Van Ness near 14th Street to be exact - with her two hyperactive sons. You can tell Jasmine is not only out of her element but quite judgmental about how her sister's life has turned out. The irony of Jasmine's patronizing attitude is that she is a habitual liar who is so angry about her destitute circumstances that she frequently talks to herself. The story follows the basic outline of "Streetcar" but takes some interesting turns, for instance, when she tries to better herself by taking computer classes while working as a receptionist at a dental office.

Allen has crafted his film into a clever juxtaposition of current and past events that feels jarring at first since it reflects Jasmine's precarious mental state but then melds into a dramatic arc which resonates far more than a straightforward chronology could have allowed. As a writer, he has become more vociferous in his dialogue without losing his wit. He doesn't pull punches when he showcases confrontations between his characters, whether it's between the two sisters, men and women, or people from different classes. Hostility can come in flammable torrents or in thinly veiled remarks. That Allen moves so dexterously in tone is a testament to his sharp ability in drawing out the truth in his actors. Blanchett is a wonder in this regard because there is something intensely fearless in her approach. Unafraid to lose audience sympathy for her character, she finds an innate sadness in Jasmine that makes us want to know what happens to her next. She also mines the sharp, class- based humor in Jasmine's struggles with one highlight a hilariously executed scene in a pizza restaurant where she explains to her confused nephews to "Tip big, boys".

The rest of the cast manage effective turns. Alec Baldwin plays Jasmine's swindler husband with almost effortless aplomb. Sally Hawkins brings a wonderful looseness to Ginger, Stella to Blanchett's Blanche, and finds a level of poignancy in her character's constant victimization at the hands of her sister as well as her brutish, blue-collar boyfriend Chili, played with comic fierceness by Bobby Cannavale in the Stanley Kowalski role. In a conveniently conceived role, Peter Sarsgaard gets uncharacteristically breezy as Dwight, a wealthy, erudite, and matrimonially available State Department diplomat who appears to be the answer to Jasmine's prayers, while Allen casts two unlikely comics in about-face roles – Andrew Dice Clay as Ginger's defeated ex-husband Augie and Louis C.K. as Al, an amorous suitor who brings Ginger a few moments of romantic salvation. Allen's European sojourn appears to have freed him up with the movement of characters in scenes and Javier Aguirresarobe's ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") camera-work complies nicely. The San Francisco locations bring a nice geographic change to Allen's storytelling, and he only uses the Golden Gate Bridge in a long shot once from the Marin side. This is Allen's best work in quite a while, and Blanchett is the ideal muse for his tale.

A typical Woody Allen comedy drama, driven by Cate Blanchett's jaw dropping performance.

[A_Voice · 7/10 · 6 February 2014]

Woody Allen while maintaining his one movie each year streak, manages to produce another of his cheeky humourish drama about human psychology. As much repetitive it might seem to his previous work, it's flaws and repetitiveness is completely foreshadowed by Cate Blanchett's best ever.

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) is a proud ex-upper class lady, who after the loss of her wealth, moves in to her sister's place. Struggling to come in terms of her own past, she not only becomes a headache for those around her, but ruins herself also.

Just like all Woody Allen films, this film also has a 'stage drama' feel to it, with the protagonist being there from frame one to the last frame, and everyone else just coming and playing there part. As always Woody proves himself one of the best presenter of human psychology and mannerism, with this strong account of narcissism.

But what comes as a striking surprise from this low budgeted typical 'old classic drama' is Cate Blanchett's superb portrayal of Jasmine a egoistic lady. She certainly deserves the Oscar this year. It was also good to see Sally Hawkins' great rendering of Ginger. The story might be ordinary, but Woody with help from Cate and Sally, manages to produce to characters which will be remembered for long.

The film also has some good production design. The editing is also good and keeps the film more interesting with the parallel flashbacks, however, it might seem a little abrupt at times.

Direction: Nice.

Story/Screenplay: A typical Woody Allen stage drama with strong characters and a satire on human nature. Even though it is good, but I still feel the best writing nomination was a surprise, as his previous works are more or less the same.

Acting: Cate Blanchett will be a sure shot winner at The 86th Oscars, she totally surpasses Amy and Sandra's performances. Surprisingly, Sally was also great. Alec and others fit into their roles perfectly.

Music: Good background score with collage of 80's soundtrack accompanies by Conal Fowkes' "Blue Moon", a pleasure to the ears.

Overall a solely Cate Blanchett driven drama with some refreshing comedy, a good family film.

Woody and Cate Make a Fine Duet

[dglink · 9/10 · 8 August 2013]

Woody Allen's finely tuned screen-writing skills and his talent for eliciting standout and often award-winning performances from his leading ladies are on full display in "Blue Jasmine." Alec Baldwin, the slick husband of a middle-aged socialite, Cate Blanchett, pulls a Bernie-Madoff swindle and ends up in jail. The homes, the cars, the furs, the jewels, the furniture all go to the Feds, and the penniless Cate flies first class to San Francisco with her Louis Vuitton luggage to stay with her non-biological sister, Sally Hawkins, until she gets back on her feet. Blanchett, the Jasmine of the title, is totally unprepared for her economic fall. She decides to become an interior designer, but wants to study on-line; however, she is computer illiterate and must take a course, before she can begin to study decorating; but, she needs money for the courses and takes a receptionist job with a lecherous dentist. Although the film addresses serious issues, the Allen humor will provoke smiles and an occasional chuckle, from small well-observed moments such as the attempts of indecisive patients to make dental appointments.

Understandably, Cate Blanchett's Jasmine teeters on the edge of a nervous breakdown; she lies instinctively, even to herself; and she cannot or will not face the reality of her downward mobility. The role is an actress's showcase, and Blanchett is in top form; her nervous rambling monologues, either to herself or to unwilling strangers, provide a study guide for aspiring actors. Jasmine brays at her "sister," Ginger, effortlessly and engagingly played by Hawkins; she nags about Ginger's job, lover, and living quarters, until Ginger points out Jasmine's own diminished situation. Jasmine bellows that Ginger can do better than her amorous boyfriend, Chili, a charismatic Bobby Cannavale with a bad haircut and faded tattoo; eventually, Ginger reminds her that her own choice of husband was less than stellar. Jasmine, Ginger, and Chili make an aromatic trio, whose names perhaps allude to their personalities, and they are ably supported by Louis C.K., a horny guy with the hots for Ginger, and Peter Sarsgaard, a respectable diplomat seeking a suitable wife for his political career.

In keeping with the film's title, Woody uses blues on the soundtrack, and his cinematographer, Javier Aguirresrobe, lenses the dual New York and San Francisco locales effectively. Although the jump cuts in time are jarring initially, viewers will quickly accommodate to New York being the past and San Francisco the present. Woody at age 78 is a master writer, especially of women's characters, and "Blue Jasmine" finds him at his best. Although Woody's trademark humor flickers throughout, the film is essentially about a vulnerable woman standing amidst the ruins of her former life and facing a precariously uncertain future. Audiences may come out praising the performers, but humming the blues.

Not a Comedy

[Danostler · 7/10 · 9 January 2014]

A good movie, but I would not call it a comedy. Not even close. I have no idea how it could possibly fit into that genre. It is definitely dramatic, thought provoking, and well made, but it is not funny at all.

Cate Blanchett amazed me with her ability to really become Jasmine. She drew me into the story and almost made me feel like part of her. However, the story is almost depressing. This lady really struggles throughout the film. You root for her, but around almost every corner she is put down as soon as she begins to get ahead.

If you are looking to have your thoughts and emotions tugged around, hoping and caring for a sad woman, this is the film for you.

a roller-coaster of disturbing

[goofyball · 9/10 · 29 July 2013]

when the movie was over the audience sat there somewhat stunned and completely silent... was crazy... crazy is the literal word to use.

the main character is so vivid and sad and real.

the film is a roller coaster ride of drama and comedy... of awkward humor and goofy then disturbing.

the use of flashbacks are done seamlessly and works well to tell the back story of this amazing character.

there are a few things that maybe don't work here and there but 80 percent of this film is cate blanchette and she really is perfect.

at times it's woodyy allen-ish and at other times you forget and are sucked in by blanchette.

rest of cast is great... andrew dice clay is awesome in a very toned down role, louie ck is great is a small part... sally hawkins is awesome in her own way and very different from her sister jasmine... bobby carnivale chews some scenery.

if this movie sucks you in you will have a hard time forgetting it for a while... it hangs with you.

Blanche Dubois meets Ruth Madoff in this entertaining but derivative chronicle of self-deluded anti-heroine

[Turfseer · 7/10 · 4 August 2013]

With 'Blue Jasmine', Woody Allen has managed to come up with a film that invites comparisons with one great work from theatrical history as well as a more recent true-life story, ripped from the headlines involving the financial world. He cleverly merges these two disparate stories into a fairly gripping tale that will keep your interest to the end, but eschews the complex references from his source material, which make those narratives, much more compelling.

Jasmine, Allen's anti-heroine, is obviously based on Ruth Madoff, who was married to Bernie Madoff, who committed the greatest Ponzi scheme in history. In the film, the Madoff character is 'Hal' (Alec Baldwin), a mega-rich investment counselor who ends up being arrested and kills himself while in prison (in real life, of course, it's Ruth's eldest son, who ends up committing suicide). Jasmine moves to San Francisco, moving in with her working class sister, which invites comparisons with Ruth, who moved in with her sister for a while, down in Florida. In the film, Jasmine has one son, who ends up moving to California, who she's estranged from. The real-life Ruth was estranged from her two sons but eventually, I believe, reconciled.

'Blue Jasmine' jumps back and forth in time, as the seemingly tragic tale of Jasmine unfolds. When she moves in with her sister, it becomes obvious that Woody Allen is developing his story by taking a page from the Tennessee Williams play book. Jasmine, bearing a striking resemblance to Blanche Dubois from 'Streetcar named Desire', is now caught up in a love triangle involving her sister Ginger, and her new working class lover, Chilli (played by Bobby Cannavale), who also appears to be Woody's version of 'Stanley Kowalski'. While I loved Cannavale in 'Boardwalk Empire', and think he's a great character actor, 'Chilli' is not as complex a character as Williams' Stanley Kowalski. Cannavale's character (along with some of the other characters including Ginger's ex, played by Andrew Dice Clay) seem more like they belong in 'The Sopranos' or 'The Jersey Shore', than denizens of San Francisco.

As the story moves along, Jasmine continues to maintain the illusion that she's important and seeks to restore her social status, which was ripped from her, following her husband's arrest. Woody Allen wants us to feel some sympathy for Jasmine after her employer, a dentist, sexually harasses her. Jasmine's initial plan is to take an online course to become computer literate and later become an interior designer (isn't it more likely that she could find a tutor to help her with computer skills?).

Finally, Jasmine realizes that her salvation is in finding another rich man to assist her in maintaining her past lifestyle. The way she handles her romance with Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), a State Department employee, who has aspirations to become a Congressman, is indicative of her ongoing delusional frame of mind: of course she'll be eventually found out, if Dwight runs for office! But so determined to return to the good graces of the nouveau riche, she'll ignore the obvious fact, that there's no chance in hell of her ever escaping the watchful eye of the media (I doubt in real life that Ruth Madoff would have been so delusional, that she would entertain the thought of marrying herself off to an aspiring politician and actually believe that she could then escape discovery of her sordid past).

The high point of Woody Allen's plot work comes when Dwight finds out about Jasmine's subterfuge. I was expecting Chilli to spill the beans (no pun intended), but it's actually Andrew Dice Clay's character, Augie, Ginger's ex, who happens to run in to Dwight and Jasmine by chance on the street, and pours out bitter feelings of being betrayed, both by Jasmine and Hal.

There's also a sub-plot that moves quite nicely, involving Ginger having an affair with a kindly audio engineer, Al. Chilli blames Jasmine for causing Ginger to regard him as a low life but in a nice plot reversal, Al turns out to have been cheating on Ginger all along. Did Chilli get to Al's wife and let him know what was going on? Or did the wife, simply figure things out on her own?

In the end, 'Blue Jasmine' is a derivative tale that manages to entertain. Cate Blanchett, who reminds me of a middle-aged Lauren Bacall, does well in attempting to remind us of Blanche Dubois, stuck in unrelenting self-illusion. The problem is that Woody Allen doesn't know his 'Blanche Dubois' character personally as Tennessee Williams did. Thus, we 'get' Jasmine's self-illusion act in the first thirty minutes. The character arc remains the same and that's exactly Allen's point: the character never learns and never grows. Perhaps Blanchett's best scene is where she confronts Hal at the end, when she finally accuses him of infidelity. But Jasmine's whole history, feels superficial; Woody conveys the superficiality of Jasmine's lifestyle in a schematic way, not like the complicated fictional character of a Blanche, or a real-life Ruth.

While Jasmine's one-note character is one of the film's limitations, Woody Allen does manage to come out on the right side of the film's main ethical question. Should we in the end, view Jasmine as a sympathetic figure? Woody, I believe, says no. After all, Jasmine wasn't planning to marry Dwight because she loved him—she simply wanted to be re-established, in her former world of luxury, and continue to look down on all the 'little people', who she regarded as her social inferiors.

As a director who has immersed himself for years in the history of film, Woody Allen continues to churn out decent, 'journeyman' work of late. Don't expect any great poetry or descriptive narrative based on a complex historical world, but this is a director who knows how to cast and work very well with an excellent crew of actors and create a story, which moves quite decently, from A to Z.

Public Service Review

[homdeb1058 · 5/10 · 26 August 2013]

All of the viewer reviews I read about this movie were glowingly positive. And with an outstanding 7.9 rating, how could I go wrong going to see it? Woody Allen used to make good, clever funny movies. Big mistake.

I'm here to tell you this is an awful movie. The characters are boring, irritating, annoying stupid creatures about whom I could care less. Even the ones that started with some credibility, lost it. The actors all did a decent job of playing the rolls they were given, but the script was uninspiring and the story just lame and pointless. One of the other reviewers mentioned how when the movie ended the audience sat in stunned silence. I took it to mean from awe or reverence. Now I know it's because the movie has no ending. If the projector broke with thirty minutes left to go in the movie, people would be howling with anger and demanding their money back, but if the writer/director leaves out the last 20 or 30 minutes of the story and then tacks on the credits, everyone thinks this is cool and clever and innovative.

I feel like a guy standing in the crowd watching the emperor strut down the street stark naked and all around me the people are oohing and aahing over his beautiful royal garments. What garments? The guy is jiggling, hairy, stark naked, for crying out loud! This is not a wonderful movie. It was a potentially interesting story that got lost somewhere along the way. Don't get sucked in by the hype.

Blanchett under the influence

[chaos-rampant · 14 March 2014]

It's a great and unexpected surprise when Woody can beat both the Coens and the French these days in a film about delusion and self. I'm not a fan of his overall trajectory and predilections, but I won't deny any film its effectiveness.

Woody here pierces through to the essential thing. It's a film about modern suffering but that is clearly seen here as attachment to internal narrative, not just a general thickness around being. He maintains inextricability; it is both her fault and a life of circumstance with no clean separation. The woman still carries echoes of that previous narrative around her, soon it becomes clear that the explanatory flashbacks are hallucinated after the fact.

Overall Woody here arrives at a tender admission. It would be all too easy to discard or condemn her as pampered and sheltered, this is only part of the thrust here. He doesn't romanticize privilege the way Sofia Coppola is prone to, another plus: we're called to sympathize with more than a victim. The admission is that life in its course of being lived leaves indelible marks in the story of who you are, that this is only real to the extend that you inhabit the story, and yet that's it's genuinely hard to distinguish one self from the other.

He doesn't give this internal world to us with particular visual richness, few filmmakers his age do. There is 'color and shape', tied to the narrator's vivid imagination who aspires to be an 'interior designer', but Woody could have done so much more with the logic of memory. No, the real effect here is geared in the combination of asking the multilayered Blanchett to inhabit a character who inhabits and continuously recalls a story. She's marvelous. She seems to know the degree to which Jasmine blurs the recalled story to be only about color and appearances is the same one to which she blurs the current one, true love from convenience, responsibility from mere absent-mindedness, all these Blanchett truly, genuinely blurs around the character she inhabits.

It's deceptively easy to consume this thinking Jasmine knew in advance or was never in love, be aware and sensitive to this difference. It blooms once you reflect back on it, inhabit her world instead of pass through with moral superiority, because doing this means that your own tools of defining truth must be called into judgement.

It's a fine film, much better than the hollow inhabiting of his Midnight. This one cuts. A Woman Under the Influence appears to have been a template, Jasmine's muttering to herself on the street is a reference. Like that film, it is as much the filmmaker's as the actresses' creation, impossible without the richness Blanchett fleshes with.

An unfinished tragedy

[ruthandjan · 7/10 · 22 September 2013]

Woody Allen cannot complain about the performances of his actors in this movie. They are fantastic. However, the story relies upon some absurd coincidences which seem amateurish and unreal. Glimpsing an affair from the back seat of a taxi in New York? Come on. Bumping into the ex brother-in-law at the moment of getting an engagement ring? That is just silly. My main disappointment with the movie is how it strayed from the main thread, Jasmine's desperate need to be seen to be someone better than she really was. She was like that as a child and because she never learned to overcome it, it eventually brought about her downfall. Instead of sticking with this tragic story, the movie keeps getting distracted with pointless side trips, like Ginger's little dalliance or a horny dentist and you never get to see what finally happens to her. For the tragedy to be complete you need to see her doom. I am giving this a seven because the actors were sensational but in the end I was disappointed because this movie could have been so much greater.

One Of Woody Allen's Best Films

[bfrash-348-740592 · 10/10 · 2 August 2013]

Cate Blanchett gives her best acting performance of all time. Her character changes dramatically every scene. There will be nominations in the future for CB - in my opinion. Woody Allen punk-ed himself with the French nanny angle. Andrew Dice Clay was spectacular. Sally Hawkins stole many scenes in this movie.

This movie was a commentary on the gluttony of Wall Street & Finance...on many levels.

It also pointed out the desperation of people suffering from mental health issues.

I recommend seeing Blue Jasmine. You will not be disappointed.

She has already cracked, now we just watch as she breaks up.

[face-819-933726 · 7/10 · 6 January 2014]

Blue Jasmine, as in Jasmine is blue. The darkest saddest things we try to hide from even ourselves. Poor hard done by Jasmine, always lost in a room full of people, stuck reliving the moments that have burned themselves into her psyche. Pampered, and spoon fed all her life, to suddenly have the protective bubble ripped away, and worse and to have no idea what to do next. This movie is a bit of a downer, and has it's really slow points, but as far as the acting, and overall look, and feel of the film there was not a bad, or sour note to be had. I Enjoyed the over all movie, it serves no purpose, and no real lessons are learned, but the story was a good change from the norm, and had some sort of funny moments. I would not recommend this movie to most people, it has a great story like I said, but it is dull as dirt at times, so most people will not like this at all. a nice quick rental if you have it on a discount, but pass on it otherwise.

Cate Blanchett=Tour De Force Performance!

[g-bodyl · 9/10 · 7 November 2014]

I have never been interested in any Woody Allen films in the past, but over the course of the past year or so, I have gradually become interested in his films and I'm glad because he is actually a film genius, as evident from this film, Blue Jasmine. Blue Jasmine offers a roller-coaster ride of emotions from light comedy to downright depressing. Woody offers up his distinct style of dialog in his screenplay and it's put to good use by Cate Blanchett who delivers one of her best career performances.

Woody Allen's film is about a woman named Jasmine who was quite a rich socialite in Manhattan married to a wealthy businessman named Hal. When Hal is arrested for swindling, Jasmine loses her home and wealth and is forced to move to San Francisco to move in with her sister, Ginger. From there, we see the emotions Jasmine goes through as she is having a hard time moving on.

As said before, Cate Blanchett may have given her best performance and that is a tough feat. Her emotion is so raw and her pain is so real and even though I don't care for people with her kind of snobby attitude, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. Alec Baldwin does a good job as Hal, the man with the money and the affairs. Sally Hawkins delivers quite a performance as Ginger, who is suffering from problems of her own. Finally, Bobby Cannavale does a great job as Ginger's boyfriend who makes it clear his distrust for Jasmine.

Overall, Blue Jasmine is an excellent film but I'm not sure if being labeled as a comedy would work in its favor. The movie is just too depressing at times. I was also reminded of the Bernie Madoff scandal here and Jasmine seems to deliver the emotions Madoff's wife must have gone through. This is a well-acted and well-written film that touches upon the subject of life-altering changes and their effects. I rate this film 9/10.

A well made film but characters were so unappealing to me I couldn't enjoy it

[etann-36707 · 6/10 · 22 February 2022]

I would have really liked a more dramatic ending, a murder or a vicious attack of sorts, it just would have made so much more sense with the story line. Watching a woman turn into the crazy lady in the park talking to herself was just such a letdown. And the tolerance the others had for this woman was completely unbelievable considering their history with her, she would have been dumped on the street from the get-go. There were opportunities to tone down the drama and make a lighter film but they for some reason weren't utilized. I understand why people may have really enjoyed it but it just was an irritation for me and was just glad when the story finally concluded, well, sort of concluded. I'll give it credit as the performances were strong and that was really the only thing holding this film together for me.

Blue Blanchett.

[anaconda-40658 · 10/10 · 11 August 2015]

Blue Jasmine (2013): Dir: Woody Allen / Cast: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay: Another Woody Allen masterpiece and this one regards self pity. Cate Blanchett stars as Jasmine Francis who moves in with her sister after her husband hanged himself in prison. Back story regards her rich lifestyle with money that her husband swindled off of others and how it all came to consequence. Bad blood emerges when her sister's lottery money was also swindled. Now Jasmine must learn to cope with a lifestyle that she looks down upon. She attempts a career in interior decorating but decided to do it online, which meant a course in computers. For money she becomes a secretary at a dental office where the dentist hits on her. Blanchett delivers one of her greatest performances as a woman subdued to the life she resented. Alec Baldwin plays her cheating scheming husband whose fate leads to her anxiety and erotic behaviour. Sally Hawkins plays Jasmine's sister, divorced with two children. She is now dating someone else whom Jasmine looks down on. Bobby Cannavale plays Hawkins's new boyfriend, a grease monkey struggling with Hawkins cheating after being invited to a party by Jasmine. Andrew Dice Clay is the real surprise giving a convincing performance as someone who has suffered from the affect of Jasmine and her scheming husband. Character study of living the life until anger and revenge are retorted without thought. All that is left is distant relationships and strangers ignoring you when the only one willing to listen to your voice is yourself. Score: 10 / 10

Shouldn't be fun

[isaacochoterena · 6/10 · 1 February 2022]

In this film the emotional moments are overshadowed by a fun atmosphere.

In the moments that there is an emotional break, the fun atmosphere that there is makes it impossible to take these emotional moments seriously, you cannot take seriously that the characters are suffering and that they seem to be having a horrible time. It doesn't seem like there's a conflict to resolve, but there's a character development that reflect what they're looking for it's not what will really make them happy. I didn't like the ending as I don't find it satisfying to keep seeing the main character suffer, the atmosphere she's in isn't the best, either as it seems like we should be laughing instead of feeling bad for her. This is mainly due to the direction and the peculiar music that it uses, I feel that the comedy overshadows the drama and the human feelings that the characters have. The film also shows us how we are constantly looking for someone else who completely us, even if later it destroys us emotionally or is not what we expect. The performances are very good, especially Cate Blanchett's, and the photography is also good.

I think the direction makes the film not have the emotional impact that it should, by trying to make it seem funny instead of giving importance to the suffering and uncertainty that the main character goes through, although I think the actors do an excellent job of bringing to life these characters in a very real way.

A real fake life

[saschakrieger · 9/10 · 14 January 2014]

Ceaselessly the woman talks at the elderly lady next to her: on the plane, at the airport, waiting for their luggage. Only when her husband picks her up, she is able to free herself from the incessant flood of words. This is how Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen's latest film begins. It ends with the same woman sitting down on a park bench, talking again. The lady sitting beside her gets up and leaves, the talker does not even notice. In these two scenes – so similar and yet so different – Allen frames his tale of Jasmine whose real name is Jeanette. A woman who, married to a rich financial entrepreneur, once was at the heart of New York City's high society. Now she must relocate to San Francisco, to live with her despised sister. When her husband's criminal activities were discovered and he subsequently hung himself in his cell, she lost everything: her jewels, her money, her footing, her mental balance. This is Woody Allen's take on the financial crisis, bankers spun out of control, the Bernie Madoffs of this world.

He looks at the effects on someone who once profited from the fraudulent schemes and then fell from grace, one who so internalized the artificial world she chose to live in that now she cannot leave it. Try as she may, she cannot return to reality, moving from daydreaming escapes to the past to empty illusions about her future, unable to grasp the necessities of the life she must now live. Blue Jasmine tells the story of what happens when you live in a fake world and are thrown into the real world. It is the tragedy of a woman caught in her dream, one she cannot give up anymore. She is the victim we have a hard time pitying, the winner who loses everything while she goes on believing that everyone else is a loser around her.

Cate Blanchett is Jasmine and she gives the strongest performance to date in a career full of memorable performances. She plays Jasmine between hysteria and desperation and slowly maps her subtle descend from overwrought nervous tension into a stupor equally induced by alcohol, prescriptions drugs, self-delusions and a complete failure at getting to terms with reality. She is broke, yet flies first class, she moves in with her sister who bags groceries at a local store, yet travels with Louis Vuitton suitcases – none of this being a contradiction in her mind. Blanchett is spectacular in the radical way with which he merges with her deconstructing and dissolving character. She carries the film with her characters' helpless attempts at dignity, her ridiculous pretense, her losing any grip in her life and her mind. Sally Hawkins as her sister is a wonderful counterpart: down to earth, yet full of the same desire to have a better life, the same dissatisfaction with what she has. But while she comes around to accepting what she has, no matter how little that may be. Jasmine cannot.

Allen moves back and forth between the present and flashbacks of the past, often caused by a sudden memory or the topic of a conversation. Strangely, it is those past scenes that feel more real. Whereas the dreary present is drenched in a pale, vague sunny light, giving it a slightly unreal, dream like feel, corresponding well with the nostalgic jazz soundtrack Allen has chosen, the memories seem sharper, more matter of fact, more plausible. This reflects Jasmine's perception: for her the fake is the real and the real a nightmare she must wake up from. And it seems she might: love enters, a chance to resume the life she once had and for a short time, the old socialite returns, the façade though a little cracked is polished and looks as good as new. But all falls apart again, and night falls on Jasmine.

Blue Jasmine is Woody Allen's first drama in a long time. Although he does, at times, allow his portrait of Jasmine to touch on the caricaturesque, the film remains too close to her existential desperation to allow for cathartic laughter. Instead the film, despite the essentially unlikable title character, is a touching story about the delusion of those who believe in the fake, who build their lives on dreams and self-deception, who invent a life so thoroughly that they come to believe in it. And it shows a society built on the principle of make belief – and the willingness of many to defy logic for the blind faith in the god of money. Yes, some of the plot twists are a little implausible, yes, the contrast between the phony rich and the ultimately good-hearted poor, is a little simplistic, but overall Blue Jasmine is an entirely convincing study of the dissolution of a self, carried by a focused direction and an acting performance that is great beyond belief, making this Woody Allen's strongest film in a long time.

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It's a great movie but I didn't connect with it well.

[EnenArus · 7/10 · 10 July 2022]

It's a great movie but I didn't really connect with it well. All the choices seem good, and I like some of the ideas. A person who can't even consider being motivated in and of themselves is an interesting concept. And the fact that everyone is their own person, and the more you know about people the less great you realize they are. There's a lot of goodness in this movie. I think the only reason I didn't love it was because I'd already thought of these motifs before, and they weren't new to me. Also, I think the movie hits the same beats over and over again.

Still, this movie seemed good all around, and I don't really have anything specifically bad to say about it. I'm not sure exactly why I'm giving it a 6. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood.

Brilliant acting isn't enough

[johnmcc150 · 4/10 · 9 October 2013]

This is not an enjoyable film. I could appreciate Cate Blanchette's truly great performance but after a while I hoped there would be something else. It is obviously a morality tales about the section of New York society that is shallow, materialistic and callous, but we got this message and all about Jasmine fairly quickly. There was nothing else - that was it. As we continued to follow her downward path, I had expected the ray of light about the future. Instead we got a more detailed description of the past, even though she had already told us all there was to know about her history. There was never a sign that the penny had dropped about what was really important in life. All we ever got was an indication that things were going to get even worse without even a hint of redemption. Thoroughly depressing. When they give out the Oscar I can say I saw it, but that is a small consolation.