Blue Jasmine

Wrote this after a theatrical viewing in 2013:

I found "Blue Jasmine" a little hard to watch, intentionally so, as it's never easy to watch self-destructive people (Jasmine) undermine their future with delusions of their own self-worth at odds with the inability to deal with their present circumstances undercut by such self-destructive decisions in response to being tossed aside for a shinier toy. That is the character study Woody Allen has crafted in Jasmine (a solid performance by Cate Blanchett).

It's heartbreaking to see the dichotomy of Jasmine having to move in with her sister Ginger on the west coast because Jasmine has no where to turn to, even though she was never the best big sister to Ginger when Jasmine was the socialite du jour in New York while being married to Hal (Alec Baldwin) until their finance come under scrutiny and Hal's philandering ways, and compare it with Ginger's own past and present and how she has to come to grips with settling after certain truths are uncovered.

Jasmine herself isn't someone you want to root for, so ultimately, you take away from her story what you will, and leave the rest behind. It's solid writing by Woody Allen, but not as easily digestible as some of his lighter, but more entertaining films of recent past, like "Midnight in Paris" or even "Vicky Cristina Barcelona".

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.