There is nothing sadder than to see a revered filmmaker lose his touch and class. Many were starting to worry about Woody Allen. Doubters, Blue Jasmine will restore your faith in the New York filmmaker.

Allen attempts a modern day re-working of Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire. His first perfect move is to cast Cate Blanchett as a New York socialite who’s just lost everything after a messy break up with her cheating, wheeler-dealer husband, aptly played by Alec Baldwin. She heads west to San Francisco to stay with her sweet and financially poorer sister, Ginger, a welcomed performance from the ever-talented Sally Hawkins.

Saying Blue Jasmine could have easily been a monologue on Broadway shouldered solely by Cate Blanchett would be accurate if sadly negating of the exceptional performances from the entire cast. Let’s be honest, Blanchett could make reading the phone book a dramatic experience! That said, her portrayal of a depressed, broken and betrayed woman in utter disillusion about the realities of the world and a twisted re-invented past, is spectacular. One of Blanchett’s best to date – and that’s hard to choose.

Woody Allen takes his fans back to his best works and female characters: Annie Hall, Mighty Aphrodite, Hannah and Her Sisters. His script is flawless and reminds the audience how much they have missed Woody filming in America about Americans.

To go deeper into the storyline would frankly ruin the experience of discovering this gem. Blue Jasmine is a triumph and welcomed return from the anxiety-ridden maestro. Just watch it.