Woody Allen and PIXAR have a fascinating correlation; both are highly respected creators in the film industry, some of the best in fact to ever work in film. While they’ve created a few duds along the way, they’re mainly hailed as holding a standard for excellent cinema that can’t be comprehended, all while creating a single film every year (although PIXAR did recently push their 2014 film “The Good Dinosaur” to 2015, but you get the point). Similar to how this summer PIXAR’s “Monsters University” reminded audiences how fantastic a PIXAR film can be, “Blue Jasmine” reminds us how superb Woody Allen is as a storyteller.

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) has lived her entire adult life in luxury, thanks to her husband Hal (Alec Baldwin). Their lives are perfect, until Hal is arrested and the only life Jasmine has known is suddenly taken away from her. While coping with her nervous breakdowns and psychological problems, Jasmine moves in with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco. This is far from a happy reunion though; Jasmine’s always been disapproving of Ginger and all the resentment and bitterness from over the years will suddenly bubble to the surface.

One reason Woody Allen is so highly regarded in Hollywood is because he gets all the great aspects of filmmaking like few directors do; he understands actors (just look at how he commands outstanding performances from supporting players like Michael Stuhlbarg and Louie C.K.), he has an expert sense for how to fantastically direct scenes and, most impressively, his ability to write fascinating characters. In this last regard, Jasmine is a tour de force, constantly surprising you with her motivations and opinions despite one thinking they have her entire character figured out.

Allen keeps the audience on their toes, trying to figure out just who this woman is, with the best part being that Jasmine isn’t truly any single personality; she’ll be anyone or anything so long as it’ll keep her rich and privileged.  Jasmine is the rare type of person in cinema to not have any truly redeemable characteristics, she constantly expects people to think only the best of her despite her holding unflattering opinions of everyone she comes across.

Blanchett is breathtaking in this kind of role, one that certainly must have been difficult to make come to life without becoming some over the top persona. Luckily, both Blanchett’s acting and Allen’s writing combine to make Jasmine one of the more outstanding characters seen this year.

 The rest of the ensemble cast is fantastic as well, with Bobby Cannavale being a particular highlight of the film as Ginger’s boyfriend. Plus, the aforementioned Sally Hawkins brings considerable depth to the film as Ginger. Like the audience, her character is simply stunned at times by Jasmine’s continued attempts to twist people’s ideals and personalities for her own selfish motivations. While she has to deal with this character personally, the rest of us can simply bask in the glory of Allen’s talent and Blanchett’s astounding performance.