Review of Blue Jasmine (2013) by Ian S — 22 Feb 2014

Can a film be "forgettably touching?" I'm leaning towards 'yes' after seeing this. It's considerably more streamlined than most of Woody's recent efforts - the plot here is basically "Cate Blanchett is a socialite and we cut between her high-flying past and her screwed-up present" - and there's an unusually minimal supporting cast, too.

Everyone on board is good, notably an admirably schlubby Andrew Dice Clay. Blanchett is doing a lot of heavy lifting here but she belongs in a better film - Blue Jasmine's big misstep is in its tone; it pulls that old Woody Allen trick of being frivolously lightweight and overwhelmingly melodramatic at the same time, but thankfully the performances on hand largely keep it all from floating away into meaninglessness.

In someone else's hands, this could've been a knockout drama film, but that's just not how Woody operates.