BLUE JASMINE written and directed by Woody Allen, with Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins and Alec Baldwin. 98 minutes. A Mongrel Media release. Opens Friday (August 2). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NNNN
The white-on-black credits come up, the swing jazz on the soundtrack sets in. Ho hum, another Woody Allen movie.
But, no, Blue Jasmine is not just another trifle from the man whose last two pics (Midnight In Paris, To Rome With Love) were decidedly lightweight. In fact, Blue Jasmine goes to some very dark places – the Woodman even delves into class issues. And he’s got a performance from Cate Blanchett that’s the most powerful ever given by any of Allen’s stars.
Blanchett plays Jasmine, the emotionally unhinged wife of corporate sleazebag Hal (Alec Baldwin), who’s fleeced everyone he knows – including Jasmine’s sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) – and been thrown into the slammer where he’s committed suicide.
Penniless and on the brink of a second breakdown, Jasmine hauls her three crammed Louis Vuitton suitcases to San Francisco from her former home base in Manhattan so she can move in with Ginger, a grocery bagger living in a small apartment in the Mission district with her two children from an earlier marriage.
Jasmine and Ginger, both adopted but from different parents, are like night and day. Jasmine’s a tall, regal, icy blonde radiating entitlement, while Ginger’s a short, earthy, brunette who radiates warmth. Ginger likes loud, scruffy guys like her ex, Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), and her current boyfriend, Chili (Bobby Cannavale) – totally antitheses to smoothie slimeball Hal. Jasmine loathes them both.
The savvy script uses flashbacks to reveal Hal’s philandering, his crooked business deals and the extravagant lifestyle Jasmine’s lost. Everything’s changed for her but she’s still the same supremely delusional woman, fantasizing that she can remake her life by taking an online interior design course, for example, and popping Xanax and swilling martinis every time something goes wrong.
Those flashbacks to Jasmine’s home in the Hamptons and shopping treks to Manhattan’s upscale shops contrast spectacularly to Ginger’s cramped quarters and rowdy lifestyle, illustrating more class awareness than we’ve ever seen from Allen.
There are humorous moments. Jasmine’s so out of touch, she can be funny, and Allen knows how to nail a scene in which a womanizer like Hal tries soothingly to convince his wife that she’s the only one.
Baldwin is turning into one of Allen’s most accomplished go-to guys – he was Jesse Eisenberg’s guide to romance in To Rome With Love. Hawkins is charming, even if her accent occasionally betrays her British roots. Cannavale has an aggressive edge seldom seen in an Allen-drawn character, and who knew Clay was capable of a soulful performance?
But it’s Blanchett who will blow your mind. Hers is a devastating portrait of a woman losing her grip, able to flip instantly from supremely composed to twitchy to completely bonkers.
Expect Oscar to come calling.
susanc@nowtoronto.com | @susangcole
