JASMINE (Cate Blanchett) and her businessman husband, Hal (Alec Baldwin), enjoy a privileged life in New York.

The society wife has little time for her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) or then-brother-in-law Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), who foolishly invest their lottery winnings in one of Hal’s bogus property investment schemes. When Hal is exposed as a crook, all of Jasmine’s assets are seized and she is forced to head to San Francisco and move into divorcee Ginger’s modest apartment. The sister’s new boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale) and rival suitor Al (Louis CK) fail to impress snooty Jasmine, who is compelled to seek “menial work” as a secretary in the office of dentist Dr Flicker (Michael Stuhlbarg).

Then Jasmine meets a handsome diplomat called Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), who heralds a turnaround in fortunes for the selfobsessed heroine. Distinguished by Blanchett’s raw and bleakly funny performance, which is virtually guaranteed this year’s Oscar, Blue Jasmine is one of Woody Allen’s best films on US soil for some time. The statuesque Australian actress is in almost every frame, delivering zinging dialogue with split-second timing and plenty of tears. The script is studded with pithy turns of phrase, most of which are gifted to the leading lady as she expertly conveys her character’s downfall at her own manicured hands.