Say what you will about Woody Allen, the guy is very prolific. He also has made some more than decent films. Allen's newest flick, Blue Jasmine, isn't less than decent. Yet, it's not more than decent either. The plot of the film is that a housewife named Jasmine (played nicely by Cate Blanchett) looses all her money after her crook of a husband (Alec Baldwin) goes to jail. Leaving Jasmine to have to leave her lavish lifestyle and stay at her sister's place in San Francisco. Woody Allen is usually a very good writer and director, and although he isn't always good, he can choose a good cast. Blue Jasmine has quite a good cast. Cate Blanchett gives the best performance of the movie as the main character. She's so crazy and vulnerable, Blanchett plays her perfectly. Jasmine isn't the most likable character, she is self-centered, sometimes drunk, and occasionally annoying, but Cate Blanchett pulls it off. Louis C.K. has a fairly small role here, and he's not used to his best potential, but he's good in the parts that he's in. Peter Sarsgaard us good in his role as Dwight, a rich businessman who takes a liking to Jasmine. This is no surprise though. Sarsgaard always adds to a movie. He was particularly good in Garden State and Shattered Glass. Alec Baldwin plays Jasmine's ex-husband and he's not bad, but he's sort of the person he always plays. Even though Cate Blanchett gave the film's best performance, Micheal Stuhlbarg gave my favorite one. Stuhlbarg is always good at awkward or funny characters. His small role in Seven Psychopaths made me crack up and he was very good in A Serious Man. Here he plays a dentist who's very attracted to Jasmine. I didn't think the movie was all that great but his role was partially worth the 11 bucks. Although it gets a bit slow at times, at least Blue Jasmine manages to be slightly interesting. Though some of the characters just don't develop nicely at all. The writing is at least pretty good. It's not laugh out loud funny, but the movie was able to manage a chuckle out of me here and there. I suppose you do have to hand it to Woody Allen. The makes a movie almost every year, some of them are gonna be flops. Blue Jasmine isn't a flop, but it's not great either. It has some good performances but overall it's just mediocre. It's not worth paying the full price for a ticket, but I guess Blue Jasmine could be worth renting. I give Blue Jasmine 3.4 out of 5 stars. You can like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies and follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies. Happy Viewing.
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