Jackie Review: Finally A Spotlight On

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Jackie is a film that needs to be looked at from a few different perspectives: it’s a biopic that looks at a time in the country’s history that has become near-mythic (the events around the assassination of President Kennedy and it’s immediate aftermath), and also through the eyes of the person at the center of that whirlwind, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. We’ve seen dozens of films (for both the big and small screen) over the years that in many ways we’ve already been through it all before and can almost recite the events of that fateful day in Dallas by heart. This, however is the first time that one has respectably focused on the impact of the assassination on Jackie herself.

The film’s framing is that of Jackie (played superbly by Natalie Portman) meeting with Life magazine reporter Theodore White (Billy Crudup) just seven days after the assassination of JFK and a mere four days after the funeral. White is conducting an extensive interview with her which would result in the essay, An Epilogue. As Jackie gives her story, we jump back to various points in time of the preceding weeks leading up to the present time.

The rest of the cast, including Peter Sarsgaard, who plays Bobby Kennedy, Greta Gerwig as Jackie’s secretary Nancy Tuckerman and John Hurt as Father Richard McSorley, are equally well matched for the level of Portman’s performance. As JFK films go, this one isn’t about the country, it’s about a wife and the people around her. It’s not played big, it’s played quiet and personal.

For part of the film, Jackie wears the infamous blood-stained pink suit from that day, her smoldering rage emoting a combination of frustration and anger about the helplessness of her situation. The scenes are heartbreaking, for all her fame and fortunes, in the end she is alone when she has to explain to John Jr. (played by twins Aiden and Brody Weinberg) and Caroline (Sunnie Pelant) why their daddy will not be coming home.

Directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, he has proven himself entirely capable for his biopic-type stories about the lives of people who influenced their countries; his earlier biopic was about Communist politician and poet Pablo Neruda. This is another one of those films that is very good and has great performances, but in the end will likely not find a huge audience.

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