A wealthy New York socialite moves in with her decidedly less well-to-do sister in California after her marriage falls apart. Perennial New Yorker Woody Allen actually began his filmmaking career in San Francisco where he shot his feature debut Take the Money and Run. His star turn in Play It Again Sam also took place in SF but he didn’t direct that. He returns to the city by the bay over 40 years later with the drama of a damaged woman. Cate Blanchett completely embodies this individual. Her consummate manner – including every facial tic, insensitive remark, cry for help – serves to paint a fully realized portrait of this woman. She must adapt from her comfortable existence in financial stability to one of more limited means. Whether she is a victim of circumstance or should be partially blamed for her own situation, is a fascinating question you’ll wrestle with as the story plays out.
Cate Blanchett is neurosis defined. She takes medication, drinks profusely, talks to herself and becomes unhinged in an unfettered depiction that should earn an Oscar nomination if there‘s any justice. A common aspect to Jasmine’s personality is to provoke her sister (Sally Hawkins) into finding a man that she deems more suitable. With Jasmine’s high class affections, Blanche Du Bois from A Streetcar Named Desire comes to mind. She even objects to their boorish behavior, first to ex husband (Andrew Dice Clay) and then current boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale). But the similarities end there. What makes Blanchett’s work so affecting is she is at once relatable but also inaccessible. She is understanding, yet aloof. We sympathize with her pain while we want to slap her in the face. It’s a difficult balancing act and Blanchett handles the feat with deft precision.
Blue Jasmine alternates between New York and San Francisco, the present day and her past. Uniting these threads is the tale of a woman in crisis. Jasmine’s real name is Jeanette but she decided that didn’t have a poetic ring to it. Right from the beginning as she is coming off a plane jabbering away to her flight companion, Blanchett IS Jasmine. This doesn’t feel like acting. It would be easy to disconnect from this socialite’s fall from high society. At one point she recounts an incident after her collapse while she was working as a sales clerk in NY and one of her affluent gal pals walked in. She describes the experience as such an extreme indignity you’d have thought she was describing prostitution. In less capable hands the character would have been someone to hate or laugh at. But Blanchett’s achievement demands your concerned attention. With a mixture of fierce pride and desolate shame she brings humanity to this woman. Blanchett is an actress who has given her share of exceptional performances over the last 2 decades. I do not say this lightly, but her portrayal here ranks among the very best of her career. Yes she’s that good.
And now for a little insight: As someone who lives in the San Francisco Bay area it’s hard not to take exception to Allen’s view of San Francisco as the ultimate comedown for the upper elite of NY. I had to chuckle at how Ginger’s economical digs are depicted as simple and plain. The interior of her so-called modest apartment in the Mission district was actually filmed at 20th and Lexington. In a city where a driveway is a luxury, her ample space would easily rent for $3,000+ a month. She’s a supermarket cashier, by the way. Not exactly the living quarters of a sister who should be pitied. If that’s hardship, I’m ready to suffer.
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