'BLUE JASMINE'

'BLUE JASMINE' (PG-13) (3 1/2 STARS)

Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Actors: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg,Louie C.K., Max Casella.

Like him or not you would have to admit that Woody Allen is one of the best at giving actresses strong lead roles when most male writers don't. The role he has given Cate Blanchett is a doozy of a character giving Blanchett the chance to give one of the best performances of this or any other year.

That character is Jasmine and she is a mix of tics, insecurities and craziness but fleshed out by Cate Blanchett. She is at the center of a failed marriage to a Bernie Madoff type, business man played by Alec Baldwin. After her marriage is destroyed she comes to live with her not well off half sister Ginger who has also survived a failed marriage and lives in poverty in Brooklyn. The two women will go through more relationships with men as we also see that Jasmine is having what seems like a continuous nervous breakdown.

Woody Allen has a distinct style of writing this time telling us a variation on "A Streetcar Named Desire". His writing is recognizable like a Richard Price or a David Mamet. It can drive some viewers crazy and non fans of Woody voice their problems with him just like they do for Mamet. I like his writing most of the time but here it can distract you out of the story and that creates some problems here even with a huge fan like me.

What covers that is the fact that Jasmine is a brilliantly written female character and that Blanchett is incredible in the role. There is also a wonderful cast and performances that are even equal to Blanchett. It starts with Sally Hawkins who is awesome as the half sister, Ginger. Blanchett's performance can overshadow the others but Hawkins is her equal actually. It is a lived in and great performance. Another surprise, but not too much of a surprise for me, is Andrew Dice Clay as Ginger's husband Augie who was a victim of Jasmine's husband investing money for Augie and then stealing it. Dice Clay is charming and his performance is also great and feels lived in and natural.

There are also more wonderful performances by an incredible cast. Alec Baldwin is perfectly sleazy as the husband, Bobby Cannavale continues exciting acting as Ginger's new boyfriend and Peter Sarsgaard is also good as a love interest for Jasmine. The screenplay can be clichéd but the performances are so perfect and great and the writing of Jasmine is so fascinating that it doesn't matter.

It all starts with Cate Blanchett who I think is one of our best actresses and maybe the most beautiful woman on screen now. She is incredibly amazing as Jasmine. It is a performance that commands the screen and takes over. She is not afraid to make Jasmine emotionally ugly, needy and vulnerable. This is a character that could have produced an over the top, annoying performance but Allen's directing and Blanchett make it real, haunting and powerful.

I wasn't always into the movie but Blanchett is a life force and I couldn't take my eyes off of her! It reminds me of maybe my favorite female performance ever on screen, Gena Rowland's performance in "Woman Under the Influence". It is the same type of character and it is powerful stuff, the type of performance and character any actor could dream of and Blanchett is a house on fire.