A New York socialite, deeply troubled and in denial, arrives in San Francisco to impose upon her sister. She looks a million, but isn't bringing money, peace, or love...
Allen's plotting is miles tighter than it's been for his last few; the eked-out back-story here is an especial pleasure, though one too-cute street-meet clangs a little.
Woody Allen's latest demonstrates both his craftsmanship and his unique gift for balancing comedy and pathos.
Blue Jasmine is an elegant, witty and sophisticated tale that reaches back into the American literary traditions of Edith Wharton and F Scott Fitzgerald, but also Allen's own magnificent tradition of compassionate human comedy. It is pure movie-going pleasure.
The one-liners are in evidence but this is more abrasive than you might expect. Blends rigour and vigour to join Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight In Paris as the best of late-period Woody.
Blanchett is just about the best thing in this thin, clunky film. It’s a rather theatrical performance, but she conjures sympathy for a pretty awful person.
Allen’s best film in years, astute, humane and shot through with keen observations on the state of the world. It may also, in its pondering the price of deceit and the pain of rebuilding a life from nothing, count as broad social allegory.
Woody Allen at his best.
Once again Woody Allen proves a master at creating strong female characters.
I'm inclined to think of Blue Jasmine instead as a small miracle, an autumnal drama as exquisite as it is unexpected.
A Streetcar Named Desire for the financial crisis era, Blue Jasmine loses just a little of its power as a moral fable because its depiction of working-class American life doesn't wholly ring true. But its condemnation of the culture of denial that allowed such pre-crisis affluence is still loud and clear, and as a character study it is pure gold.
When the dust settles finally on this one, it’ll surely takes its place in the upper tiers of the Woody pantheon.
Watching Blue Jasmine is like stepping into a time machine and seeing some of Allen’s great films such as Manhattan and Crimes and Misdemeanours for the first time again; it really is that impressive. After twenty years, this is finally the real comeback fans have been waiting for.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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