REVIEW: Blue Jasmine (12A)

Blue Jasmine

* * * *

JASMINE French (Cate Blanchett) used to be on the top of the heap as a New York socialite but is now returning, utterly ruined, to her estranged sister in San Francisco.

In a towering central performance so commanding you at times forget that this is a Woody Allen film, Blanchett takes us on something of an emotional roller-coaster – one which, admittedly, has more downs than ups.

We first encounter Jasmine babbling to a fellow passenger on a flight to San Francisco. Her troubled back story emerges from the first minute of screen time, flashbacks helping flesh it out as the story develops.

As Jasmine struggles with the haunting memories of a privileged past during which she turned a blind eye to uncomfortable dark realities, she tries to recover in her present.

It proves to be an uphill struggle as Jasmine's narcissistic hang-ups and their consequences begin to overwhelm her.

Alec Baldwin is the super-wealthy, cheating husband whose financial success is built on shifting sands – and whose downfall spells ultimate disaster for Jasmine.

If Blanchett gets the limelight, she’s brilliantly supported by her long-suffering, down-at-heel screen sister, Ginger. If the character looks awfully familiar, it may be because you’ve previously seen her in quintessentially English films such as An Education, Made In Dagenham and Happy-Go-Lucky.

The "sisters" were in fact both adopted, Ginger blithely blaming her poor genes for being the black sheep of the family – despite now showing the patience of a saint as her sister experiences a full-blown breakdown which threatens to destroy Ginger’s own shot at happiness.

Director/writer Allen’s screenplay gives Blanchett and co plenty to get their teeth into, his sharply honed observational skills deployed to good effect by a colourful cast of characters.

There are two very funny quirky scenes which are vintage Allen. I’d like to have seen a few more to lighten the tone even more. In one, self-obsessed Jasmine runs over her past indiscretions in front of the two young nephews she’s babysitting, oblivious to how inappropriate that is. The other will jump out at you when you watch the film!

If you’ve read A Streetcar Named Desire (or been forced to study it at school somewhere along the line), you’ll notice very strong echoes between the lead character here and Tennessee Williams’ anti-hero, Blanche Du Bois.

I’ll confess to being taken aback by the final reckoning (perhaps no bad thing in these days of oh-so-predictable happy endings). It’s a film to admire as much as enjoy, though chances are it will stay with you for some time.

Blue Jasmine is being screened at Vue Cinema, Inverness, tonight (Tuesday) only at 7.30pm and at Eden Court until Thursday (October 31).