By Laurie Coker
Rating: A-
Cate Blanchet offers an impressive performance, as the emotionally broken Jasmine, in Woody Allen’s latest film Blue Jasmine. Her performance fills each scene with passion, craziness and disillusion, and Allen’s ensemble cast ties it together perfectly. It’s the tale of a once wealthy woman forced to rely on a sister (Sally Hawkins) she all but shunned. Broken by a cheating husband (Alec Baldwin), who loses his ill-gotten fortune, Jasmine breaks from reality and after a trip to an asylum, she ends up on the door of her sister. Its the actors who make Blue Jasmine enjoyable, that and Allen’s affinity for creating rich characters and a uniquely realistic and slightly bizarre world in which they inhabit. The tale, however, isn’t wholly remarkable. We’ve seen it before, but watching Blanchet and her co-stars makes every moment worth the look. I am placing a A- in my grade book, I’d give higher if the story was fresher. Blanchet surely will get an award nod for this one and most likely will take awards away.