Blanchett the Best Part of “Blue Jasmine”

Two reasons to see Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine (C): if you’re a completist of the idiosyncratic writer/director (I am) and to see Cate Blanchett’s layered performance as manic-depressive scorned wife of a Bernie Madoff type (Alec Baldwin). Given the critical adoration of this film, I’d swear there’s some pyramid scheme afoot investing richly in Manhattan’s maestro having a new classic on his hands. There are indeed a few nice moments, and it’s an often fascinating character sketch likely to lead Cate to awards acclaim; but in such a rich canon for Allen, this gloomy bloom isn’t loaded for much of a boom. I will be the first critic to award a “meh” to this summer sleeper.