Blue Jasmine (2013), PG-13, 3.5 stars

Blanchett, Clay and Hawkins mingling around with some company.

Woody Allen has made some very fine movies (Midnight in Paris, Match Point) and some ok movies (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, To Rome with Love) in the latter stages of his career. But the one thing that is certain is that Allen never seems to stop what he enjoys best and that's good. He is one of the most appreciated filmmakers in cinema and anybody can anticipate one of his works every single year and this year is definitely one of his most interesting works.

A wealthy couple, Hal and Jasmine Francis (Alec Baldwin and Cate Blanchett) are having a great life enriching everything pure: yachts, mansions, expensive wine & champagne, and socially wealthy visitors. After a sudden loved one's suicidal death in prison, Jasmine has to go move in with his sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins). She basically criticizes different aspects of her apartment, from the size to the composition of the architecture and decor of the interior design. I really feel bad for her and the architect and contractors who built that place.

She dislikes Chili, Ginger's boyfriend, played by Bobby Cavanale. Andrew Dice Clay plays Ginger's ex-husband who abused Ginger in the past. It really ranges to another character study as a subplot as we follow Ginger. She is a very interesting character.

But, now, we're back to Jasmine. How can your life get any worse as you were a wife to a very rich man? As we follow Jasmine, we follow the comparisons between the upper class and the middle class. Some would argue it is the lower class. Jasmine has to find a job to support herself. She panics because this resoundingly and astonishingly new to her. It's a once rich wife's depression and anxiety to become one normal person in society. She is desperate. But, a California Congressman (Peter Sarsgaard) gets her attention as he's, well, rich. How far can she go for him not to realize what she is going through?

Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin.

Let's go on record and say that Cate Blanchett is absolutely sensational as this depressed character who has to go through every aspect of both classes to get what she wants and to maybe get back her personality. But, in every aspect, she is very cowardly upset that nothing is as easy as it seems to get something that she wants. She deserves the Oscar nomination. Also, the rest of the cast is superb. Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Louis C.K., Bobby Cavanale, and especially Andrew Dice Clay. I want to praise Clay because he has a personality that can be charismatic on screen. I hope he can do more movies.

As for Allen, the story stretches on to become Jasmine's story. We want to follow every move she is going after. But, the subplot with Jasmine's sister gets a little pretentious and uneven when she has two different problems with two very different male characters in her life. It did not absorb me and it did not pay off. All in all, though, it is a triumphant performance by Blanchett and she carries and anchors this strange movie beautifully.