Blue Jasmine (2013) - Woody Allen

Suffering a nervous breakdown after her long time husband is indicted for illegal business practices, Jasmine, a vapid and narcissistic socialite, is forced to move across country to San Francisco where she attempts to reconnect with her sister.  Coming from a life of luxury, Jasmine struggles mightily when she is forced to take care of herself.  Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine gives a pensive look into an unlikeable character whose incredibly selfish and borderline delusional.  Jasmine is a character whose inability to understand what is truly important in life hurdles her towards a complete mental breakdown and Woody Allen does a great job at capturing the dichotomy between Jasmine and her less fortunate but hard working sister Ginger.  The structure of the narrative in Blue Jasmine works extremely well, flowing in and out of past and present to inform the viewer of the various character's relationships, baggage, etc.  This is one of Woody Allen's best ensemble casts in years but Allen realizes that Jasmine is the star of this film, and with good reason, as Cate Blanchett is truly phenomenal in this film.  The film never sags or slogs along thanks to Blanchett's engrossing performance.  Blue Jasmine is not a cranky comedic film that has become Woody Allen's most common genre, but a vibrant and powerful film of a woman's slow descent into madness.
8/10

---