Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES II, III & IV • September 4, 2013 ‘Blue Jasmine’ tackles rebuilding after scandal by Dennis Seuling “Blue Jasmine” is about a woman on the verge of a ner- vous breakdown. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves from New York City to San Francisco to stay with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins). The siblings are complete oppo- sites. Jasmine is used to great wealth and pampering, and finds it difficult to adapt to a new life after her husband (Alec Baldwin) is arrested for financial fraud. Ginger works as a cashier in a grocery store and is a down-to-earth pragmatist. Ginger feels sorry for Jasmine and takes her in until she can get back on her feet. The situation creates stress for all concerned, including Ginger’s boyfriend, Chili (Bobby Canavale). Because Jasmine has always had the best that money can buy, she is totally unprepared to function in a world that requires her to have skills of some kind. She does manage to get a job as a dentist’s receptionist, but devotes most of her time to swigging vodka and complaining about her lot in life. “Blue Jasmine” is a profound character study of a woman too fragile, unprepared, and terrified to acclimate herself to unfamiliar circumstances. Almost childlike in her inability to grasp what it takes to get along and pay one’s own way, she entertains fanciful, unrealistic ideas about her future. Ginger is her only refuge, though Jasmine never refrains from being condescending to her sister and her apparent contentedness with a blue-collar life. Blanchett takes on a difficult role, revealing all sorts of facets of Jasmine’s personality. On the surface, she is Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins in a scene from ‘Blue Jas- mine,’ directed by Woody Allen. a spoiled, aloof, irritating, bejeweled fashion plate. How- ever, viewers also see her as a rudderless dependent who would be nothing without her husband’s considerable wealth. At the same time, there is a fierce integrity in the way she maintains a death grip on her illusions. So along with revulsion and disdain, viewers also feel empathy and a great degree of fascination. People like Jasmine don’t pop- ulate the worlds of average folk, so there is a voyeuristic attraction as Jasmine navigates the obstacles of rebuilding her life in a new city. Blanchett turns in a flawless, Oscar- worthy performance. Parallels to “A Streetcar Named Desire” are inevitable. All the elements are here: the fragile lead character who has fallen on hard times and drinks too much, the rough-hewn brother-in-law who sees her for what she is, and the sister who tries to keep peace among the three of them. But the film has a unique identity and appears modern and timely, in part because of the recent Bernie Madoff scandal. The story director Woody Allen is telling focuses on the story after the media frenzy has died down, the courtroom trials have ended, and property has been seized. Though Jasmine has avoided jail, her “sentence” is to be tossed, unprepared, into a world that demands personal accountability. Director Allen makes generous use of flashbacks to fill in Jasmine’s history. Viewers see her living in affluence, expensively dressed, surrounded by servants, while turn- ing a blind eye to the questionable investment schemes by which husband Hal makes his millions. She turns that same blind eye to Hal’s numerous affairs, buying his denials and accepting his diamond-encrusted gifts. How much does she truly know? Where does her innocence end and her self-interested credulity begin? To the film’s great credit, it keeps viewers guessing until the very end. Hawkins does a fine job. Pleasant, generous, sympa- thetic, and hard working, her Ginger possesses the qualities Jasmine simply is unable to summon. Her chemistry with Canavale is excellent and it is easy to believe these two as a real couple with much in common. Chili may be a work- ing stiff but, as Ginger points out, he is no crook. Canavale fits so easily into the character of Chili that it seems as if he is hardly acting. He has harnessed the trick of making fictional people come alive. Andrew Dice Clay portrays Augie, Ginger’s former hus- band. Clay’s standup comedy act in the ‘80s was popular though vilified by women’s groups as obscenely sexist. It is surprising that Allen ever thought of him for the role, but the casting pays off. Clay is completely convincing as a manual laborer embittered by thwarted aspirations. Notable, too, is the film’s soundtrack, which includes jazz and blues performances by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, and Trixie Smith, and standards by Rodgers & Hart and W.C. Handy. The songs perfectly underscore the scenes in which they appear. Allen’s knowledge of and taste in music have always figured prominently in his films, and here the soundtrack is an important ingredient in setting the appropriate mood. Rated PG-13, “Blue Jasmine” is an exceptional achieve- ment and a true gift to moviegoers who relish a good script, complex characters, and first-class acting. Coming at a time when movie theaters are stocked with action and explosions-and-mayhem flicks, it is a genuine oasis in a desert of mediocrity. Cook Up Some Business! Advertise your restaurant in The Villadom TIMES. You’ll reach over 47,000 households. 201-652-0744 www.villadom.com