Film review: Blue Jasmine

What is it? Woody Allen’s latest stars Cate Blanchett as a socialite fallen on hard times after her financier husband (Alec Baldwin) is exposed as a con-man.

The Independent says: “The bi- or triannual pronouncement that some new Woody Allen film or other represents a “return to form” has become a film reviewing cliché. But this one really does. Much of the credit is due to Cate Blanchett, whose commanding performance as Jasmine, a gruesomely fascinating woman in the midst of a psychological breakdown, is can’t-take-your-eyes-off-her good. But Allen’s dialogue is balanced right on the line between painful and funny.”

They say: Empire: “this isn’t merely vintage Woody, it’s evidence of a whole new Woody. Expanding on the introspection that has crept into his more conventional dramas as he has aged, it also has room for biting satire, deftly skewering the heedless mores of the ‘one percenters’.”

Daily Mail: “one of the year’s great films, and a memorable example of Woody at his best. As for Blanchett, it will need a miraculous performance to defeat her at next year’s Oscars.”

You say: @fbancilhon: “saw “Blue Jasmine”, Emma Bovary marries Bernard Madoff. A very sad and bitter movie. Blanchett is a great actress.”