Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen, 2013): USA

Reviewed by Johanna Carlsson at Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2014.

What would you do if your husband was taking to prison and you got left all by yourself without any money and a lot of debts? This is probably a scenario you do not want to become your reality. But it is for Jasmine. This movie is called Blue Jasmine and is directed by the famous director Woody Allen. Woody Allen have been writing, directing and playing in several movies before. Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger are just some of the films Woody Allen have directed before. There are also a lot of well-known faces when it comes to actors in this movie. Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin are actors that you may have seen before in other movies since they are popular actors.

Jasmine (played by Cate Blanchett) is used to live on the top in the society. Money, good façade, spending time with the elite and the typical rich lifestyle is what Jasmine has had as her everyday life in many years. With a rich man, she did not have to work so much and they lived in a beautiful apartment in the middle of New York City and had a house next to the sea. But something went terribly wrong and her husband Hal (played by Alec Baldwin) ends up in prison. Jasmine is left all by herself and she lost all the money she had. Jasmine has to move to her sister in San Francisco until she is able to finance herself and her living. Jasmine has debts and her sister Ginger (played by Sally Hawkins) is trying to help her. Ginger is very kind to her sister although Jasmine has been pretty bad to her. Ginger let her stay at her place even if it was planned that her new boyfriend was supposed to move in. Ginger is patient but things do not seem to arrange for Jasmine. The question is what she is going to do and how long she can stay with her sister?

Overall I pretty much liked the story of the movie and how they jumped back and forth in time. You got to see how Jasmine had had it before and everything that had happened which lead to the situation she was stuck in now. I have always thought that Woody Allen has done very special movies and this was also kind of special but I had easier to grasp this movie than other movies he has done. He is a great director but sometimes things in his movies develop in unexpected directions. I guess that is what makes him unique but I sometimes have a hard time like the way it develops. It was better this time but I still had something that annoyed me about the movie. Do not want to say too much since I always believe it is up to everyone to make up their own mind. Something I do not like can be something someone else likes.

There is a song repeated during the movie. It is called “Blue Moon” and this was the song that was played when Jasmine and Hal met. It made it make sense to the name of the movie, Blue Jasmine. Blue from the song and Jasmine from the main characters name. I will probably not going to see this movie again. One time was enough for me. I think you should see the movie because it has a good story and I liked it overall. It is well done, like always with Woody’s Movies. And good actors. But do not have to high expectations.