It's a shame about "Blue Jasmine." Unlike so many of Woody Allen's other films from the last 20 years, this one actually could have been great, with its ripped-from-the-headlines story line. Neurotic women have always been the key to Woody's good film. And the fish-out-of-water parts of Cate Blanchett's fallen Park Avenue socialite trying to rebuild her life while living with her blue-collar sister in San Francisco is a breeding ground for humor. Throw in a a strong supporting cast -- Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Louis CK, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Dice Clay -- and it's hard to see where you could go wrong. But it does. Jasmine is way beyond neurotic: she's suffering from acute psychosis after a serious mental breakdown. A lightweight comedy is hardly the right milieu for this topic, as there's little humor in a woman in deep need of help who is not getting it. Pity Woody didn't spend two years -- instead of keeping up his trademark one film per year regimen -- and iron out the serious flaws in the story, including some clunky dialogue and a poorly fleshed out new romance. Surely I am not the only one who noticed.
