Cate Blanchett has earned more than critical acclaim and the hearts of audiences everywhere with her performance in “Blue Jasmine”. She has earned some pretty serious Oscar talk, as well. “Blue Jasmine” is a Woody Allen film that mimics Tennessee Williams’ classic play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, with Blanchett playing fallen New York socialite, Jasmine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FER3C394aI8

The film follows Jasmine, “a Park Avenue Princess”, whose wealthy husband Hal, played brilliantly by Alec Baldwin, winds up in jail as a result of sketchy business practices.

She subsequently falls on hard times, and is forced to move in with her adopted sister, Ginger. Ginger, in contrast, lives in a humble apartment in San Francisco. Depressed and nursing an addiction to alcohol and pills, Jasmine desperately tries to maintain the appearance of wealth as the truth is gradually revealed.

The critics couldn’t keep their tongues from wagging after witnessing the magic that is Cate Blanchett:

“‘You hire her and get out of the way”, Allen has said of his incredibly talented leading lady, which is a hint about how very raw her presence is.

“It will need a miraculous performance to defeat her,” added the Mail. “Cate Blanchett leads an impeccable cast in Allen’s 46th film as director,” said the paper’s film critic, Chris Tookey.”Mesmerising, loathsome but full of pathos, hers is a barnstorming performance, reminiscent of her stage turn as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, but with more than a touch of Lady Macbeth as well.”

“Woody Allen deserves his five-star review and Cate Blanchett an Oscar for her role as a modern-day Blanche DuBois,” concurred Kate Muir, in the Times.

“Blue Jasmine” will be released on DVD in October or November, it’s still being determined.

Image via youtube