Blue Jasmine

I finally had a chance to see this movie. Seriously, it's been out since July and I never got a chance to check it out. That being said, I probably could have waited more.

I know, I know. Everyone loves this movie. And I love the same things they did. I love the parallels to Streetcar, I love Cate Blanchett. I loved the music. I loved the cinematography. I loved the tone it held, and I loved the supporting cast.

But did anyone else feel a little let down? It didn't have that strong of an effect on me. Maybe that's from comparing it Streetcar, which had me emotionally invested the entire time and absolutely loving and hating the characters at the same time. But I found nothing to latch onto in Cate Blanchet's character, I just did not care about her outcome. And, as always, my biggest pet peeve with any movie is when I need to ask myself why I need to care about the story I'm being told. It doesn't matter if a film is personal or small, like this one is. Why do I need to know the story of Jasmine Francis? By the end of the film, I had nothing except a really spectacular character study on a person I've never known. And don't get me wrong, I loved it for that. But after watching so many other great Woody Allen movies that have such small, personal stories, as well as a definitive reason to be told, this just didn't do it for me.

All that aside, Cate Blanchett is amazing. She takes this completely not relatable role and just absolutely owns it. She makes me want to understand her, but refuses to give me any basis to think that I ever do or will. In a lot of ways, following her felt like an abusive relationship. Sadly, I know what that feels like. But in many ways, I felt the connection - a desire to learn about something, learning more and more, only to know that something is bound to go wrong, to make her snap and potentially hurt you and everyone around you. But at the same time, she means no harm. She doesn't mean to be cruel or hurtful. She simply is. That's fascinating, and I absolutely loved it.

The rest of the supporting cast is phenomenal as well. But I don't understand why I needed to know some stories. Particularly, I didn't understand why we needed to know her sisters random relationship issues, except to understand Jasmine's reaction and look deeper into her structured relationships. But if that was the case, I don't want to see what her sister is doing, I'd rather just hear about it and watch the reaction and probable argument. I suppose it works fine, but it did bother me a bit.

All that aside, I'm sure many people will enjoy Blue Jasmine, and probably a significant amount more than I did. Granted, I thought it was far from a poor movie. But I hope for more out of Woody Allen.

Rank - 3/5