Review of Blue Jasmine (2013) by Mike N — 09 Feb 2014

Woody Allen will always be regarded as a comedian, and rightly so. From game changers like Annie Hall and Zelig, to more goofy fare like Bananas or Midnight in Paris, he was heir to the comic throne once occupied by Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin (and though Wes Anderson is creeping up on it, Woody's not letting that seat go any time soon).

However, the downside of such a public perception is that brilliant dramatic pieces like Interiors and this year's Blue Jasmine fall to the wayside in retrospect. Blue Jasmine plays like Streetcar Named Desire in the Bernie Madoff age, with the titular Jasmine, played with dazzling delusion by Oscar-lock Cate Blanchett, forced to move from a penthouse in Manhattan to a shack in San Francisco with her patient but simple sister Ginger (the tragically almost-unknown Sally Hawkins).

Featuring a stellar ensemble cast including Bobby Canavale, Peter Sarsgaard, a career-best (though thats not saying much) Andrew Dice Clay, and Louie C.K. in the better of his two roles this year (the other being the pretty but vacant American Hustle), Blue Jasmine is primarily character piece, taking the idea of the dysfunctional family that August: Osage County attempted, and doing it right.

It's a tour-de-force performance from Blanchett and Hawkins, and another stand-out piece of excellence for the Allen oeuvre.