Written and directed by the brilliant Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine tells the story of a woman who recently became a widow and was obligated to change her life drastically.

Jasmine French (Cate Blanchett) used to be filthy rich. She married a successful man, Hal (Alec Baldwin), before finishing her education in college and dropped out to live a dream with him. The only problem was that their relationship, and her whole dreamy life, were based on lies told by Hal that eventually fell apart, ending not only Jasmine’s dream, but also her marriage. Now, she’s living with her sister and two nephews in a poor neighbourhood in Chicago, working and trying to keep herself from going completely insane.

This movie isn’t new. I saw it on Netflix after I came home from work, while I was still alone and completely relaxed. I’m glad I did this today, because I was in a great mood, feeling good about myself when I arrived. I sat to watch a movie while drinking my favorite tea, and now I’m not that depressed. Had I done this any other day, when I was tired, sad or worse, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I did. Keep that in mind if you decide to give this one a try, which you should.

Cate Blanchett does an absolutely amazing job in this movie. She looks and talks so elegantly during the whole picture, but at the same time manages to make the character look different on the occasion. The craziness of Jasmine seems to look so natural, and it’s because she managed to make it subtle, increasing it gradually depending on what’s happening around her; and Alec Baldwin, who doesn’t have as much screen time, but also shares the room with her in almost every shot he’s in, managed to keep up with this brilliant performance, making the picture even more relatable and believable.

This was a great step up from Allen’s previous movies. Café Society, that came a bit later (begining of 2016), doesn’t go as far as to being better than Blue Jasmine, but definitely shows that after the latter Allen went back to his old times, doing the great movies we can all fall in love with, leaving the times of Midnight in Paris behind for good.

I just wanted to share how much I enjoyed watching a great movie this afternoon and give my score of 100 for Blue Jasmine. It is available on the Canadian Netflix now, and you can also find it online or at any Best Buy as a blue-ray or dvd. Now, if you haven’t yet, go watch it!