Studio-Provided Plot Synopsis: After everything in her life falls to pieces, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal (Alec Baldwin), elegant New York socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves into her sister Ginger’s (Sally Hawkins) modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again.

My Thoughts: Coming out of this film, I cannot imagine for the life of me a situation where Cate Blanchett does not at least land an Oscar nomination for her work here. If anything, she may very well be the first lock of 2013. In Blanchett’s more than capable hands, Jasmine is somehow sympathetic in spite of being a horribly unsympathetic character. The easiest comparison, and one that I’ve seen made elsewhere, is to Vivian Leigh’s turn as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Outside of Blanchett’s performance, this is one of director Woody Allen’s better films. It astonishes me that Allen continues making films at the pace he does, and his box office success is actually going up in recent years. His high point at the box office from his more recent work is Midnight in Paris, which Blue Jasmine handily trumps. Personally, I think this is his best work since at least Match Point. The first few weeks of limited box office runs suggest this film could be a huge success for Allen; if so, it’s well-deserved.