Blue Jasmine
3/4
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Peter Sarsgaard, Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg
Rated PG-13 for Mature Thematic Material, Language and Sexual Content
I first became aware of Cate Blanchett the same time the rest of the world did. It was in 1998, when she came out of nowhere to become Gwyneth Paltrow's number one rival for the Best Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards (an award that she should have won, by the way). Her career is as diverse as her talent, having starred in movies for everyone from Jim Jarmusch to Steven Spielberg. With one exception ("Notes on a Scandal"), I have never been less than floored by her performances. Her performance as Jasmine, a modern day Blance DuBois, has once again put her in the Oscar spotlight (she's the frontrunner now, and will likely win the award).
Jasmine (Blanchett) has lived extravagantly all her adult life. Having been married to Hal (Baldwin), a Wall Street hotshot, since her junior year of college (she dropped out to marry him), the loss of everything after his arrest has pushed her to the brink of insanity. She's a wreck; she drinks too much, wrecks havoc on everyone's lives, and sometimes talks to herself. She's gone to San Francisco to stay with her blue-collar sister Ginger (Hawkins) until she gets back on her feet. Suffice it to say, it's tough going for her.
"Blue Jasmine" is less of a plot-based movie than a character study. Every actor gets their chance to shine, but Woody Allen's focus is on Jasmine. She's not a particularly likable character. She's stuck up, neurotic and dampens the mood of everyone around her by just being there. But with Blanchett playing the role, we still see her with sympathy. Sally Hawkins is also wonderful as Ginger, who is divorced from Augie (Clay), whom Jasmine hates, and is engaged to Chili (Cannavale), whom Jasmine dislikes almost as much. Allen follows Ginger around as she decides whether her future is with Chili or the kind Al (C.K.). For her part, Jasmine is looking for a new sugar daddy, and she thinks she's found it in Dwight (the always wonderful Sarsgaard). Michael Stuhlbarg is perfectly dorky as Jasmine's dentist boss, who carries a torch for her.
Actually, Blanchett's performance saves the film from a script that at times feels incomplete. For example, Allen does too little with Jasmine's scrambled mind; he doens't do much with the scenes of her talking to herself. Blanchett fills in the blanks to the point where this deficiency is almost too subtle to pick up on, but it is there.
For such a depressing story, the tone of the film remains relatively light. The sun is always shining, and there's a bit of humor here and there. And yet, the film doesn't shy away from dark material either. Jasmine is a disaster, and there are two scenes of domestic discord that, while not especially violent, are intense (they brought my mind back to "Once Were Warriors").
This isn't a perfect movie, but there are many reasons to see it. The main one is Blanchett's brilliant performance.
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Peter Sarsgaard, Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg
Rated PG-13 for Mature Thematic Material, Language and Sexual Content
I first became aware of Cate Blanchett the same time the rest of the world did. It was in 1998, when she came out of nowhere to become Gwyneth Paltrow's number one rival for the Best Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards (an award that she should have won, by the way). Her career is as diverse as her talent, having starred in movies for everyone from Jim Jarmusch to Steven Spielberg. With one exception ("Notes on a Scandal"), I have never been less than floored by her performances. Her performance as Jasmine, a modern day Blance DuBois, has once again put her in the Oscar spotlight (she's the frontrunner now, and will likely win the award).
Jasmine (Blanchett) has lived extravagantly all her adult life. Having been married to Hal (Baldwin), a Wall Street hotshot, since her junior year of college (she dropped out to marry him), the loss of everything after his arrest has pushed her to the brink of insanity. She's a wreck; she drinks too much, wrecks havoc on everyone's lives, and sometimes talks to herself. She's gone to San Francisco to stay with her blue-collar sister Ginger (Hawkins) until she gets back on her feet. Suffice it to say, it's tough going for her.
"Blue Jasmine" is less of a plot-based movie than a character study. Every actor gets their chance to shine, but Woody Allen's focus is on Jasmine. She's not a particularly likable character. She's stuck up, neurotic and dampens the mood of everyone around her by just being there. But with Blanchett playing the role, we still see her with sympathy. Sally Hawkins is also wonderful as Ginger, who is divorced from Augie (Clay), whom Jasmine hates, and is engaged to Chili (Cannavale), whom Jasmine dislikes almost as much. Allen follows Ginger around as she decides whether her future is with Chili or the kind Al (C.K.). For her part, Jasmine is looking for a new sugar daddy, and she thinks she's found it in Dwight (the always wonderful Sarsgaard). Michael Stuhlbarg is perfectly dorky as Jasmine's dentist boss, who carries a torch for her.
Actually, Blanchett's performance saves the film from a script that at times feels incomplete. For example, Allen does too little with Jasmine's scrambled mind; he doens't do much with the scenes of her talking to herself. Blanchett fills in the blanks to the point where this deficiency is almost too subtle to pick up on, but it is there.
For such a depressing story, the tone of the film remains relatively light. The sun is always shining, and there's a bit of humor here and there. And yet, the film doesn't shy away from dark material either. Jasmine is a disaster, and there are two scenes of domestic discord that, while not especially violent, are intense (they brought my mind back to "Once Were Warriors").
This isn't a perfect movie, but there are many reasons to see it. The main one is Blanchett's brilliant performance.
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