A more serious film from Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine tells the story of Jasmine, a spoilt New York Socialite forced to move in with her sister in San Francisco after she loses her entire fortune after her husband is arrested for fraud. While not up there with Woody Allen's great films like Annie Hall or Manhatten, Blue Jasmine is one of his better recent films with excellent all round performances especially Cate Blanchett in the lead role and Alec Baldwin as her husband who appears via flashback. While Jasmine is a completely unsympathetic character and a snob at least to me anyway, it's Blanchett's superb performance one of her best in fact, that keeps you watching.

Kate Blanchett� plays Jasmine, once a rich New York socialite married to Hal (Alec Baldwin), but when Hal is jailed for fraud is life is thrown into turmoil, broke, neurotic, recovering from a mental breakdown and reliant on a steady cocktail of anxiety pills and cocktails.

Blanchett of course made all the headlines winning the Oscar for Best Actress, and quite deservedly so, a stunning performance, once portraying a rich socialite looking down on those not so lucky, to being just "one of us", though refusing to accept her situation, she still finds the money to fly 1st class and keep hold of her Loius Vuitton luggage. She's ably supported by a great cast too, Baldwin was born to play�her high flying philandering Husband Hal, great roles too from Louis CK, Andrew Dice Clay as Augie� the ex Brother in Law, Sally Hawkins as her put down but loving Sister Ginger, Bobby Cannavale as Gingers current 'squeeze' and an almost comic turn from Michael Stuhlbarg as Jasmine's employer,�Dr Flicker ("Have you ever got high on Nitros Oxide?!")

One of Woody Allen's best movies with one of the standout performances of 2014.

It's alright, has some good moments and performances but doesn't really go anywhere. I expected more after the oscar hype.

It's easy to see why Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for Best Actress in this film - excellent acting on her part. After splitting up with her rich husband who has been sent to prison for fraud, Jasmine moves to live with her sister but suffers an identity crisis as she struggles to adapt to an entirely new way of life; bless her, she tries - she gets a job as a dentist's receptionist and starts a course in computing - but it all goes horribly (yet hilariously) wrong. There were times in this film that when I was laughing I thought I should be crying but this is what makes the film so good. As blue (sad) Jasmine, Blanchett's performance is hilarious and her character in this film is one that many women will identify with on some level. This film isn't just for the girls - my husband watched this and laughed as much as I did.

Kate Blanchett was first class in the lead role - very convincing in depicting someone suffering from mental health stress.

I know why this film get an Oscar, was outstanding , Kate Blanchett did earn it. was terrific, love every minute of ti.
But again this DVD was not for my TV and again watch it on my Laptop. What a pity ! miss the big screen!

Simonne

This is a grim, but wonderfully acted, story about Jasmine, an unquestioning, super-rich, society wife who by a deliberate act of malice against her unscrupulous, unfaithful, con-man husband, causes her world to completely unravel, leaving her husband dead (from suicide in prison) and her with nothing. The film is about her attempts to put some of the pieces together after having a severe mental breakdown which was treated (we learn) by ECT. She is on the verge of madness throughout the film, covered by a seemingly sophisticated, upmarket veneer which she uses to function. Nevertheless, her attempts at re-educating herself and learning skills for the jobs market are hampered both by her poor mental state and what seems like confusion and memory loss, which could have been left by the ECT. She falls back on trying to find another rich husband to care for and pamper her as she has been used to. All goes horribly wrong. Although Jasmine is not a sympathetic character who seems to have learned nothing from her experiences, I did strangely feel sympathy for her and her predicament. The film is very interesting and thought provoking, wonderfully constructed and acted. The other thought I've recently had is that unfortunately no one was seeing Jasmine's madness (probably because of cultural factors) and taking her in hand either by seriously talking with her, checking on her medication or getting her more mental health support (ideally counselling). The film is a Greek tragedy.

I bought a ticket to this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it, and almost immediately as it began I knew I was watching a Woody Allen movie.

I cannot say exactly why this is so. Perhaps it was the richness of the character study, and the fact that Allen writes so excellently for female characters. In any event, Cate Blanchett's character, and her brilliant performance of this down on her luck former socialite married to a conman husband played by Alec Baldwin, may be the best female character performance you will see on a movie screen this year, and Blanchett's performance is probably the most Oscar worthy I have seen so far.

Set in San Francisco in the present day it unfolds the complex relationship of two sisters, one upper class but fallen on hard times, and her working class sister who makes working class choices. Because it unfolds in a non linear fashion it appears to dip randomly into different events over a period of about 15 years or so, and we understand why the sister is working class.

One of the themes of the movie is honesty, and facing reality, and Jasmine makes choices that seem oblivious to it. She fibs and tells little lies, at one level self deceptive, and at another deceptive of others. We may not like her for this, but if you're like me, I felt tremendous compassion for her, even loved her in spite of everything, which is not often I feel that way about a character. She suffers from severe anxiety, and the events she has to undergo take a toll on her. One particular choice she makes has particularly severe repercussions, yet in the moment we fully understand it.

I think it is fair to say moving to Europe and making films there has been wonderful for Woody Allen. In an interview he said that his previous movies were critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful. Now he has made a series of outstanding movies, and written brilliant roles particularly for women.

I cannot claim to love all of them, but Vicky Cristina Barcelona was excellent and Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her performance. Match Point is probably my personal favorite starring Scarlet Johansson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, about an upwardly mobile ambitious tennis coach, and what may be a perfect murder. Midnight in Paris was dreamy and sentimental, and won an Oscar for best screenplay. Woody Allen has been nominated a staggering 23 times for an Academy Award winning four times, three times for Best Original Screenplay, and once for Best Director of Annie Hall.

Actors who worked with him have also won Oscars. Remember Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite, and Michael Caine for Hannah and Sisters.

As someone who lives in San Francisco, I can say that he makes it look almost better than the reality, and a beige BMW can do wonders to enliven the surroundings.

It seems to me that like a good wine, Woody just gets better with age, and easily maintains his excellence with this movie.

I think most people will enjoy this movie, and I hope this was helpful. Read more ›