Review by John M. Delia, Jr.
A heartfelt account through the eyes of Jackie Kennedy following the assassination of her husband John Fitzgerald Kennedy, this mini biography Jackie opens this weekend. The film includes her televised White House tour and her interview with American political journalist and historian Theodore Harold White. The film documents the emotional struggles she endured and how she was able to withstand the smothering sympathy.
Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman), America’s first lady and daughter of a Wall Street broker, was known for her contributions to art and preservation of historic architecture. She and her husband were very loved by the American people and she knew that it was important for her to preserve the legacy they leave behind. But all came crashing down on her when shots were fired in Dallas on November 22, 1963 ending the lifestyle the press dubbed Camelot.
Following that awful afternoon that included the swearing in of President Lyndon B Johnson (John Carroll Lynch) aboard Air Force One, you could see the grief that came over her. It would be many weeks that she would hide her true feelings and thoughts of her life with a political pundit and is not what it seemed to be.
Director Pablo Larraín relives the detail account of Jackie Kennedy’s emotional experience during a horrific week in her life from a script written by Noah Oppenheim (The Divergent Series: Allegiant 1). He was able to accurately show from documented events the importance of this horrific event on our history and the toll it took on Jackie.
Larrain shows snippets from Jackie’s White House tour, the The Dallas motorcade, and the swearing in of President Johnson, all triggers that increase the depressive state she enters during the massive funeral.
Natalie Portman does resemble Jackie Kennedy and gives a very good performance as the first lady who faces tragedy. She commands the screen at every scene and you can see the changes come over her character as the timeline progresses. Larrain does however, make her a little overly emotional at times, but not to the point of being maudlin. The performance may get her a nod at a possible Oscar, but there’s a lot of competition in the Best Actress category.
Jackie, the movie has been rated R by the MPAA for brief strong violence and some language. The film is an informative and detailed narrative that presents the real Jackie from research of her own words. Even though the quality of this story is by far excellent, it develops at a snail’s pace making it tiresome at times.
Final Grade: I give the film for its informative dialogue and historical storyline.
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, John Carroll Lynch, Billy Crudup, John Hurt, Max Casella, and John Carroll Lynch.
Directed by: Pablo Larraín
Genre: Drama, Biography
MPAA Rating: R for brief strong violence and some language
Running Time: 1 hr. 40 min.
Release Date: December 23, 2016
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
