Blue Jasmine

[3.0 stars] [IMDb Link]

[Amazon Link]
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I have no clue whether Woody Allen is as dreadful a perv as his ex-family claims he is. But if I boycotted all entertainers associated with actual or alleged perviness, I'd run out of entertainment pretty quickly. So Mrs Salad and I got Blue Jasmine from Netflix and let 'er spin last night. It's nominated for three Oscars, so it's probably not awful.

IMDB classifies it as a Comedy/Drama, but (like most Woody Allen movies since about 1977) it's not one of those comedies that actually make you laugh.

Jasmine (played by Cate Blanchett, one of the Oscar nominees) is kinda nuts. As revealed in flashbacks, her ex-husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) was sent to jail for financial shenanigans, where he committed suicide. But on his way there, he managed to "invest" (i.e., piss away) the lottery-winning nest egg of Jasmine's sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins, another nominee) and her husband Augie (Andrew Dice Clay!).

Jasmine finds herself without funds, but that doesn't stop her from jetting first-class to San Francisco to prevail upon her sister for assistance. (Someone's gotta pay for her Xanax and Stoli, two substances she's inordinately fond of.) You might think that Ginger would be too pissed to put up with this, but no. Spoiler: Jasmine does not prevail over her character flaws.

The movie held my interest, despite Woody's wooden dialog. The third Oscar nomination for the movie is his screenplay, but that must be because the nominators had the sound turned off while watching the movie. Nobody talks like this. But the actors and actresses are strong performers, so they carry the day.


Last Modified 2024-01-27 5:44 AM EDT