Blue Jasmine (2013)
It feels like Woody Allen has just enough energy to rack up some ideas, to pick up the pool cue, to break, and then watch the balls scatter, some of them occasionally dropping with a satisfying "plunk" into the pockets.
“You could do better.”
Have you ever heard a friend say that to you about the person you love? Were they referring to state of the person’s finances? If so, well... when it comes to friends, you could do better.
“You could do better” is the kind of thing Jeanette “Jasmine” Francis tends to say when she encounters people whose affection for each other is based on something other than money.
She even says it to her own sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) when she meets Ginger’s meatball of a boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale). Jasmine’s wealth — the reward of marrying Hal Francis, a Madoff-style investment banker (Alec Baldwin) — has gone to her head and brought a wrecking ball with it, smashing up her discernment, her capacity for compassion, and her conscience. Now, ruined by her husband’s dishonest business practices, she’s broke, she’s burdened with debt, she’s spending her way into greater debt, and she’s freely handing out condemnation for those who have learned to enjoy more satisfaction with less income.