Day 195: Blue Jasmine

71XsC--9m-L._SL1500_Gee whiz. If Blue Jasmine – the 44th movie Woody Allen directed – was any more depressing, it would be Husbands and Wives or Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The film is about a wealthy New York wife (Cate Blanchett), married to a high-rolling financier (Alex Baldwin), a Bernie Madoff-type who suddenly finds herself without a husband, without a home, and without money after her husband goes to prison for fraud.

The dramatic drop from the highest high to a humbling low takes a toll on her life and she more or less snaps, ends up talking to herself.

She moves in with her sister in San Francisco and takes a job as a receptionist in a dentist’s office while she attends school to better herself. The pressure of juggling her job, her class, her sister’s lower-class lifestyle and friends (who hit on her), and her boss (who hits on her), and a growing drinking problem takes a toll.

Her last chance at escaping the downward spiral is meeting a wealthy state department diplomat (Peter Sarsgaard) at a party, inventing a different past, and posing as an interior decorator. The two fall in love.

But when Jasmin’s ruse is discovered, the bottom totally drops out.

Blue Jasmine was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress. Cate Blanchett won Best Actress. She deserved it. The performance is remarkable, if heartbreaking.

Cate Blanchett … Jasmine
Richard Conti … Woman’s Husband
Alec Baldwin … Hal
Sally Hawkins … Ginger
Daniel Jenks … Matthew
Andrew Dice Clay …Augie
Bobby Cannavale … Chili
Max Casella … Eddie
Michael Stuhlbarg … Dr. Flicker
Louis C.K. … Al
Peter Sarsgaard … Dwight

This is a solid script, a superb cast, and a top-notch movie.

Unfortunately, it’s the story of one woman losing her mind, her sister settling for a loser of a guy simply because no one else is knocking on her door, infidelities, deception, and ne’er do wells who can’t seem to catch a break.

In short, it’s the ultimate Woody Allen movie, the culmination of every sad story he’s ever tried to tell over the last 40 years.

Blue Jasmine is my ninth favorite film by this classical American director. I don’t – maybe can’t is a better word choice – watch it very often. It’s just too depressing. But I recognize it as one hell of a movie, with an extraordinary performance by Cate Blanchett that deserved the Academy Award.

It’s a fitting end to my exploration of every Woody Allen film (to date) that he’s directed.

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