Blue Jasmine

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Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), in her natural environment.

Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine has a lot to say about a lot of things. Honesty, materialism, faithfulness, dedication, family, kindness - just to scratch the surface. NYC socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves to San Francisco to get a fresh start on life. Flashbacks illustrate how the relationship with her wealthy and adulterous husband (Alec Baldwin) crumbled and left her alone and without the abundant supply of finances she had become so used to. 

In California, Jasmine moves in with her adoptive sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). Ginger is an ex-wife of a low-life contractor, a mother of two, and bags groceries for a living. She's currently seeing a mechanic (Bobby Cannavale) who is equally sleazy but better-hearted than her ex-husband. Jasmine can't be bothered to conform to her sister's unspectacular and challenged lifestyle, often openly criticizing her occupation, choice of men, and lack of ambition to better her life. She tells anyone who will listen how her stay at Ginger's is only temporary until she can get back on her feet.

Jasmine is too busy pointing out the imperfections in the lives of those she looks down on, and just can't come to the realization that she's not trying to change the things in her life that really need fixing. She tells Ginger how sad it is for her to be seeing a man who so closely resembles her ex. But when Jasmine finds love in California, it's with a man who can offer her everything her own ex-husband was able to. She loves no one - just a lifestyle. Anything that interferes with that lifestyle is simply an inconvenience that must be ignored or removed, which prevents her from facing her problems head-on. 

The movie definitely has that "Woody Allen" touch. Taking into account that I've only seen Annie Hall, that just shows how much of a signature Allen leaves on his films. There are a lot of "year's bests" here. I'd argue that Blue Jasmine has the best screenplay, ensemble performance, and lead female performance of the year so far. It's a little slowly paced, but Cate Blanchett's performance keeps the movie afloat from start to finish, and the flashbacks are included in a way that keeps things interesting. 

Blue Jasmine arrived at a good time. Just when I was about to say 2013 hasn't seen its share of high quality films, Blue Jasmine gives me hope for the rest of the year. And hey, in a few months, Oscar season will be in full effect. Hopefully Blue Jasmine is just the start of a potentially fantastic ending to 2013.

Rating: 4.5/5