She’s too good for you; she has expensive tastes; she’s emotionally detached and she needs your money to live. Wow, where do I sign up? Today, we’re gonna study Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), a fascinating character that I find impossible to like, let alone love — but you might feel sorry for her.
When we enter Jasmine’s world, her life is a mess but she’s too egalitarian to let us in on the joke. The first few scenes are of her talking up a woman on a plane, off the plane, on a moving walkway, at the baggage claim. The joke is the women have never met; Jasmine just couldn’t stop talking. She’s come to San Francisco to live with her very pedestrian sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins). Jasmine is broke; she has no home, no working skills and no current source of income thanks to (told in flashbacks) her imprisoned white collar thief of a husband (Alec Baldwin). And yet, Jasmine flies first class — she has little concept of compromise or restriction. That will immediately rub a number of people the wrong way. It did me. In a situation where Jasmine is required to be tail-between-legs – on top of everything, there’s a hint that she caused the split between Ginger and Augie (Andrew Dice Clay) – she instead has come to San Francisco prejudices and elitism fully intact.
In honor of the unearthing of Andrew Dice Clay, I interrupt this review for a poem:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean,
And so between them both, you see,
Jasmine is a complete bitch, OH!
Now back to regular programming.
At some point you’re gonna have to resolve the fact that Blue Jasmine is the study of a woman who has evolved beyond the need for human connection. Past or present, she shares in only the most reserved ways, offering just a hint of refined warmth to sister, husband, son, lover, etc. 
It is as if she has insulated herself in a cocoon of cultured trappings. She is completely out-of-place when thrust into commonplace areas and situations and handles all with a vodka martini and a dash of schizophrenia. Shaken, not stirred. How does she put her exquisite life back together without having to make an honest connection? This is a big problem.
Blanchett’s performance here is so nuanced that one can honestly read almost anything into it. Those who sympathize will call her a victim, a woman trapped in a box who finds everything a challenge when the box collapses. I see her as a more diabolical presence, one of such civility and beauty that you’re naturally drawn to her, but she corrodes everything she touches. Jasmine is the converse to all the simpletons who want to reduce It’s a Wonderful Life to the wonder of the lives we touch. If Jasmine doesn’t exist, isn’t everybody’s life better? Seriously. Watch the film and then name any character who is better off because Jasmine touched his or her life. For all her refined taste and style, Jasmine has progressed beyond the need to please anybody but herself. And yet, that’s only my take. I guarantee one of a different demographic will see another side to her. Cate Blanchett will almost certainly be nominated for this performance; I hope she collects all the hardware she can.
Woody’s socialite
Doesn’t play well with others
Gives us all the blues
Rated PG-13, 98 Minutes
D: Woody Allen
W: Woody Allen
Genre: The talented Cate Blanchett
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Socialite apologizers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Blue collar stiffs
♪Parody inspired by “Blue Moon”
