Blue Jasmine

I thought I could not go wrong when I selected Blue Jasmine as I flew high above the North Atlantic on the way back to the States. Blue Jasmine was written and directed by Woody Allen, and it stars  Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, and Peter Sarsgaard. Of course, Blue Jasmine has the normal Woody Allen signature, but it is far short of many of his other movies. So what happens in this movie?

Jasmine (Blanchett) is penniless after her lavish lifestyle is wiped out when her investment banker husband, Hal (Baldwin) is convicted of fraud. Moving to San Francisco to stay with estranged sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins), Jasmine arrives shell-shocked, reliant on medications and a steady stream of vodka to help her survive the day, forced to deal with a future of necessary employment to make a life for herself. Dismissive of Ginger’s low-income lifestyle and her nosy, boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale), Jasmine makes a plan to study computers and take a day job as a receptionist, hoping to pull her life back together despite emerging mental iillness. Meeting diplomat Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), Jasmine spies an opportunity to return to a place of luxury she’s accustomed to, urging Ginger to disturb her matrimonial plans by dating a frisky audio technician (Louie C.K.). However, as her mind races back to the fractured past she’s idealized, Jasmine loses her grip on reality, with Ginger gradually coming to understand her sister’s poisonous ways. 

That's all I will reveal about Blue Jasmine. If you like Woody Allen movies then you probably will want to see it, but I do not recommend this somewhat depressing movie.