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Health & Fitness

Movie Review - Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine ** (PG-13) For some of us, each new Woody Allen film brings hopes for something special. We’re often disappointed. Those who crave controversy from his releases may be getting some jollies this time around. I expect considerable Oscar buzz about Cate Blanchett’s performance as Jasmine, a woman who married into wealth, thrived in the spotlight then crumbled when it ended. Her husband (Alec Baldwin) turned out to be one of those amoral Wall Street weasels who ruined plenty of lives with the house of cards he packaged to look like a boundless financial empire. While knowing nothing of his dubious activities, by choice or preoccupation, she even got her blue-collar sister (Sally Hawkins) and brother-in-law (Andrew Dice Clay) to invest their lottery windfall with Baldwin, rather than start a business. They went down in flames, as well.

The film opens with the rich bitch flying to San Francisco to live with her now-divorced sister in a small apartment. She has no skills and little sense of remorse or even recognition for the lot of those around her. Jasmine makes some lame efforts to start a new life, but it’s impossible to empathize with anyone so self-absorbed. Her character is so unsympathetic Allen’s screenplay seems inspired by his having lost a ton of money with Bernie, on the recommendation of Mrs. Madoff...or some comparable couple. I have no idea of any such facts, but it would explain the mindset that crafted this tale and those players. He certainly seems more cynical and less romantic than in his recent love letters to Paris and Rome. Even picturesque San Francisco looks relatively drab as a backdrop for Cate’s learning curve...or lack thereof.

Unlike Woody’s recent romantic dramedies, this one’s mostly drama, with little comic relief. Blanchett does turn in a fine performance as a woman to be more reviled than pitied, but who will find that either entertaining or enlightening? Hawkins makes a solid impression from relatively little screen time as Cate’s beleaguered sibling who clearly deserves more from life and those she’s loved than she’s gotten. Clay sets aside the in-your-face standup Diceman persona of his youth to show some acting chops, as well. (8/9/13)

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