Blue Jasmine(2013)

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) and Ginger (Sally Hawkins) are unrelated adopted sisters.  Jasmine got into college but dropped out to marry Hal (Alec Baldwin) a well-respected and very weathly financier. They lived in a huge house in the Hamptons with Hal’s son Danny (Alden Ehrenreich) from an earlier marriage. Ginger ran away as a teenager, settled down in San Francisco and married Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), a contractor, and has two sons. During a visit to the Hamptons, Ginger told them they won a 200K lottery and Jasmine recommended that they allow Hal to invest all of their money. Ginger also caught Hal secretly having an affair but decides not to say anything.

Turns out Hal’s business dealings were not completely legal and was arrested and ultimately committed suicide in jail. With Ginger’s family nest egg completely gone they subsequently divorced. Since Jasmine is also destitute and wants to escape the NY scene, she decideds to live with her sister in SF. Augie does not trust Jasmine but Ginger believes she’s also an innocent victim of Hal’s illegal business. Ginger’s new fiance Chili (Bobby Cannavale), an auto mechanic, is not happy too since he was going to move in with her.

Jasmine tries to create new life by reluctantly working as a dental office receptionist and taking computer classes. Both moves are a disaster as she has a hard time handling menial tasks, is sexually harrassed by the dentist and she can barely understand computers.

Things change when both sisters go to a party and meet up to two men. Ginger hooks up with Al (Louis CK) a sound engineer, and immediately breaks up with Chili, which gets him really upset. Jasmine completely lies about herself and starts dating Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard) a wealthy foreign diplomat with political aspirations. They were about to buy engagement rings when Augie runs into them and not only blows Jasmine’s cover, he also tells them that her stepson is working in a second hand guitar store in Oakland. At the same time, Ginger finds out that Al is married.

After Dwight breaks up with her, Jasmine visits Danny and he tells her he does not want her back in his life because he knows what she did: when Jasmine finally confronted Hal over the affairs, he told her he’s in love with another woman and wanted a divorce. Apparently, Jasmine knew all along Hal’s business shenanigans, and in a jealous rage, she called the FBI on him, causing the chain reaction.

Upon returning to their apartment she finds Ginger and Chili back together as if nothing had happened. Unable to cope with her sister’s and her own failures she lies to them that she is going away with Dwight and will be moving out. The movie ends with Jasmine sitting alone on a garden bench muttering to herself.