Blue Jasmine

Oh when Woody Allen is good, he's VERY good. "Blue Jasmine" might need some fine-tuning in editing here and there, but overall it's written and acted with clinical sharpness and musical symphony, a splendid character study and an all-around delight to watch. The script is tremendous, observing the flaws of its figures and the perils of their worlds with such minute attention and nonjudgmental enthusiasm you can hardly tell the comedy from the drama anymore. The outstanding cast boasts highly memorable supporting turns from Sally Hawkins and Bobby Cannavale, bringing the rowdy charm and earthly sleaze into a picture that's all about the clash of personalities, fates and choices, yin and yang.

This movie ultimately belongs to Ms. Cate Blanchett though. She obviously knows she's been given a golden role and gladly runs away with it, leaving no bullets in her colossal reservoir of expressions unfired. The hysterics might be kicked up a notch too high occasionally, threatening to go over the top with that crazy energy shooting loose sparks all over the place. But in just the blink of an eye she'll give you a scene where she picks up a long-awaited phone call, settles herself down to zero and, with the survival instincts and killer timing of a criminal, lies straight through her teeth. To watch all that anxiety, doubt, vanity, pride, vulnerability and resentment pour out in an avalanche of emotions only to vanish into thin air again is to see a performer in the fullest command of her faculties, it's a feat of magic and a force of nature. If this performance doesn't win her that second Oscar, something's very wrong.