Woody Allen is by now light years removed from the American working class he clumsily attempts to represent in this film. And there is an undercurrent of misogyny in the way he heaps up the degradation of Jasmine. All of those beautiful elements for a great film- great actors, great locations, great set design and costume, beautifully photographed as only a Woody Allen movie can be, and yet... no real life in or between the characters, just caricatures sketched out in a hastily written screenplay.

kallipugos: your review is, in one word --

bull$&!t.

Why do Woody Allen films inspire so much crappy snide comments by pseudo-intellectuals, not unlike the characters he tries to mock in his films....is it because Allen's hatred for pompous arseholes make you feel personally uneasy, kallipugos?

What does Allen's own current social status have to do with any of this? Rich and famous people cannot possibly write about poor and common people....is that the main idea from your freshmen comp 101 essay being rehashed?

Jasmine's character contributes no small amount to her life's "degradation," and it is important to discern how much and to what degree is she responsible for her demise. She's a female so that makes it "misogyny?"

Based on your lackluster, pedantic example above, Allen's "hastily written" screenplay also happens to be one of his strongest in years, and I bet better than anything you can write.

I absolutely agree with kallipugos. While BJ is well structured, executed and acted it's feels completely mechanical and sterile. It was strange watching this film because while the acting is generally top notch -especially Blanchett- the characters don't feel genuine. The story and setting is intended to be contemporary, but aesthetically it seems like a 70s film.

Viewing BJ was an odd experience: it just barely holds your attention well enough to stave off boredom, but since none of the characters is convincingly authentic, it never draws you in. BJ is a well-executed exercise that evokes almost no affect whatsoever.