What can we axpect from him then? Pretty decent works like Match Point or Midnight in Paris, perhaps inspired comedies like The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, even bittersweet stories like Whatever Works.
With Blue Jasmine Woody has done something which belongs to his past and, at the same time, is new and refreshing. The story of this wealthy woman, used to every kind of luxury, who suddenly loses everything and is forced to move to her sister's poor apartment in San Francisco, is nothing really new to him. But the director, painting this deep and moving fragile woman's portrait, has achieved the intensity of his best dramas. Jasmine's character is problematic, charming, sometimes miserable. Behind her good looks and her elegance the pain of loss (not only wealth) is painfully hidden, wasting a fragile mind like hers. Cate Blanchett is simply perfect at showing all the sides of this woman. She reminded me Gena Rowlands best performances: A Woman Under the Influence, Opening Night, Gloria. Cate deserves an Academy Award nomination for this role, no boubt about that. Sally Hawkins is a wonderful supporting actress as well.
Blue Jasmine in some ways talks about an America that is in trouble, that has made mistakes and can't hide anymore behind her financial power. And without money and luxury, just like Jasmine, America is likely to lose her identity...
