Blue Jasmine

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2334873/

Blue Jasmine is an unpleasant piece of film making. The characters are lightly drawn, the photography uninspired and if were it not for a fine jazz/blues soundtrack there would be nothing about which to recommend it. If we step outside Woody Allen’s film, to take a good look at the elephant in the room, it’s a tacky exposé of a troubled woman dealing with the most stressful moments in her life. Sound familiar?

Cate Blanchett does a great job with her role and I’m pretty sure she’s gold for the golden statue next month. The rest of the cast is great, there’s just not much for them to do. Allen has the plot, the jokes and everything else on auto-drive. I like Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin and Louis CK but there’s just not much for them to sink their teeth into. Andrew Dice Clay’s name surprised me in the opening credits. Sadly, he’s really not up to the task so we’re probably spared an Act II in his career.

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) can't shake the blues - nor can viewers - in Blue Jasmine.

Now for that elephant… Before seeing this film I had no intention of discussing the story we all know – the betrayal, the accusations, the courts.  A good reviewer is supposed to keep his remarks to what is inside the frame.  Little did I know that what Allen has presented here forces me not only to discuss the issue but also to take sides.  I guess, in a way, that’s some strong film making.

All through the film I just couldn't figure out what Allen was getting at.  Jasmine, Blanchett’s character, is extremely disturbed. From the first scene we can tell she’s off her rocker and she doesn't improve in the course of the film. Is Allen poking fun at mental illness? Has he decided to trade intelligent social commentary for cheap shots at an unwell person? In the end I couldn't ignore the impression that he’s telling us his version of Mia Farrow’s side of the whole Woody-Mia-Dylan-Sun-Yi saga.

I've tended to defend Allen over the years even though there has been a cloud over his work for near 20 years. Recent films like To Rome With Love and Midnight in Paris have been inspired pieces of work, even if their chief appeal is a sophist's view of art, music and literature.

After sitting through Blue Jasmine, I don’t think I’ll defend Allen anymore. While I've often found Mia to be the kind of person who craves drama and the resulting attention she gets, this film is just too low a blow. No one deserves to be portrayed the way Allen portrays Mia in this film… Blue Mia…  When you see the conversation between Jasmine and her husband as their marriage comes to an end, you’ll get an idea of why I’m so bothered by this film. Of course, for my theory to hold up Allen must be admitting that there was something in his actions that justified Mia's charges. If this is the case, Allen errs by being too clever by half and having a good laugh on us, his loyal fans.

During the viewing, I wondered if certain aspects of the story were intended to indicate Allen’s true intentions. Is Mia’s favorite flower jasmine? Does the song Blue Moon mean something to her and not simply a colorful allusion made by a capable auteur? For me, Allen just made that cloud over his work that much darker. I may even choose to skip his work in the future. I realize I could be wrong. I’m no clairvoyant. There are many facts supporting both positions and just as much misinformation about what actually took place. Many people still think Allen was married to Mia or that Sun-Yi was his adopted daughter, neither of which is true.

I can’t say for sure whether Woody Allen is guilty of the things of which he’s been accused. We’ll probably never know. Were Our Patron to have made a film lampooning someone he felt had wronged him - and let's face it he probably did - not only would the result have been more subtle, there'd have been some laughs along the way. Sorry Woody, no Wilder for you.

This week’s Obscure Movie of Significance: If you haven’t seen The Station Agent with Peter Dinklage and Bobby Cannavale, then you need to get to the library or Amazon Prime and see it – a very nice movie all around.