I don't like Woody Allen. I always found him over-appreciated, especially since every year (I actually don't remember when was a break) the "new" released movie is not much more than a mix of situations from other 5 previous productions. So I don't how I ended up seeing "Blue Jasmine". Especially given that the summary, the trailer and the expectancies from Woody Allen pretty much label the production as a "girls movie" (no matter how stereotypical this may sound) ...
Actually I know how it happened. I had something like three reasons. One: probably it will get (as in most of the years) some nods for the upcoming Oscars and since I'm struggling to do a sort of coverage of the event ... Two: it was a good opportunity to catch Sally Hawkins in a more consistent role (don't ask). Three: in the area where I reside, the last weekend of September is dedicated to a regional wine fest (to be read: in the evening the town center resembles more or less a packed sardine can, to analyze the atmospheric composition you need a breathalyzer and the noise level makes me thank the Heaven for how lucky I was to catch a rent closer to the suburbs) .. anyway, since it was probably the last year when I have the opportunity to attend the most important public social event from the town's life I decided not to close myself in my cave anymore but I still needed a escape route from all the fuss + an additional motivation to move my legs downtown. That's how I ended up watching "Blue Jasmine".
I made a double intro because I'm not in the mood to write about the movie. Without thinking too much, is probably the best I've ever seen from Woody Allen (definitely above "Midnight in Paris" to take a recent comparison). I don't know if this impression is very objective. The description of the start situation sounds like this: A woman from the New York's upper class (Cate Blanchett) gets broke after her husband is uncovered as a big time financial crook, and ends up killing himself in the prison. Following that, the widow is forced to move temporarily with her step sister (Sally Hawkins), a saleswoman in a San Francisco supermarket. As any Woody Allen script this one also revolves around the problems and relations in a couple, between couples, between couples friends, anyway in a sort of 10 people limited circle. Nothing new in that. What's new, at least in what I've seen (maybe excepting "Match Point" to be fair) is that despite a comedy label shown on IMDb, the movie is much more deep and categorizing it as drama (and just drama) would probably be much more appropriate.
I don't know how objective am I, probably I'm not, because instead of what I expected to be a light flick as "Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona", "Midnight in Paris" or others, I found myself watching something that started to relate to some more or less real life facts. I'm not in the mood to elaborate on that and that's the reason why I also don't want to write about the movie too much. I'll resume on appreciating the role made by Cate Blanchett who leaves behind pretty much every other cast member ( with all my 2nd reason stated somewhere above :) )
As subjective I would be, I guess the movie's ending gives me reason for crediting it, almost exclusively, as a drama. I had a sort of "surreal" sentiment ... to say so when I left the cinema, augmented by the surrounding euphoric context. I felt a real need to find an empty street in my way home to digest the way the movie ended (which normally is quite easy to get where I live at 22:30, but in this case was impossible). I wanted another ending. At least a more complete one, any, but more complete ... I really feared that the last scene will be the last.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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