BLUE JASMINE (2013)

**2014 OSCAR NOMINEE**
After the disappointing To Rome with Love, Woody Allen's closer to form with Blue Jasmine largely due to a cast led by Cate Blanchett.  She plays former New York socialite Jasmine French, fallen from grace due to scandal, who shows up penniless on the doorstep of her younger sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco.  Though Jasmine's husband bilked Ginger and her then-husband out of their life savings years ago, Ginger - feeling sorry for her sister - takes Jasmine in, and through her erratic and narcissistic behavior (often bolstered by liquor) Jasmine systematically begins to disrupt the lives of Ginger and everyone else around her; she's simply unable to function in the real world, haunted by both her previous life and some dark secrets she's buried deep.  The story plays out like a darkly comic A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanchett even making Jasmine sympathetic in her self-destruction.  Not Allen's best, but better than his recent efforts. (rated PG-13)  ****

BLUE JASMINE trailer