It’s been since Vicky Cristina Barcelona that Woody Allen didn’t surprised us with one of his well done “dialogue-only” movie. Blue Jasmine and the incredible performance of Cate Blanchett, who deserved her Golden Globe, surprised me in a really good way.
Jeanette (Cate Blanchett), changed her name into Jasmine, married Hal (Alec Baldwin), a successful businessman, specialized in fraud, and lived a luxurious life, until her husband got caught. After that unfortunate event that ruined her, she moved to San Francisco, at her sister’s place, who is quite her opposite. If one is a tall blond, loving rich, handsome man, and wealthy life; Ginger (Sally Hawkins), is a short brunette, divorced with two kids, who lives in a modest apartment, with her no-good boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale). One thing that could explained that? They both had been adopted.
As in every Woody Allen film, this one deals with love, break-ups, make-ups, and life-questioning. Once again, without knowing who directed Blue Jasmine, Allen’s touch, is embedded into the way it’s filmed, the music chosen, and of course, the dialogues.
However, if sometimes his films seem heavy and boring, his last work, is as light as a feather. The story is pretty well sewed, and it is full of suspense while being predictable, which is a weird thing to experience. That is to say, there are things you are really wondering about, waiting to happen, things that you know for sure will happen, and finally, the oddest of all: things you know will happen, and yet you’re surprised when they do.
Blue Jasmine, is nothing more, that another funny, light, quite interesting, film to watch, when you need to find a balance between a psychological film, and a childish comedy. But there is this level of “intelligent rom-com sprinkled with melodrama” that is most of the time, found in Woody Allen’s movies, that is not found in his last feature. Indeed, Blue Jasmine doesn’t have the “intelligent dialogue” part, usually played by the director himself. There is only Cate Blanchett, who embodies this often seen, anti-hero, who doesn’t know who she really is, what she want to do, and can’t take it by herself. She seems misunderstood by her entourage, holding to the only thing she knew but that disappeared, and made her world collapsed.
A last point to notice is her relationship with her sister which is interesting too, because, she appears as if she is giving her advice, but then is actually, completely indifferent, and doesn’t really care. She drinks, she thinks, she’s not mentally present, she’s up there, drowning in her head, filled with thoughts.
What I appreciated in this movie, is that Woody Allen, didn’t try to make it a big thing, and Cate Blanchett’s performance, added life to it. I would strongly recommend people to watch it, even though they shouldn’t think about it as the movie of the year, or a big mind blown, but more as a casual film, who would be worth more than a glance.
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