Jackie Review

 R: Brief Strong Violence and Some Language

Fox Searchlight, Bliss Media, Fabula, Protozoa Pictures, LD Entertainment, Wild Bunch, Why Not Productions

1 Hr and 40 Minutes

Cast: Natalie Portman, Greta Gerwig, Peter Sarsgaard, Max Casella. Beth Grant, Billy Crudup, Richard E. Grant, John Hurt

REVIEW: We've seen plenty of cinematic stories about John F. Kennedy whose assassination was a depressing time for America. But what nobody ever thought about was how it felt for his wife Jackie Kennedy who sat next to her husband the moment the gun was shot. How did the event feel for her? What was her perspective of the moment? How did she cope afterward physically and mentally? Now with an original screenplay by Noah Oppenheim and his first English production from director Pablo Larraín, Jackie follows a remarkable first lady and the breakdown of her brain.

JACKIE is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Natalie Portman). JACKIE places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband's assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband's legacy and the world of "Camelot" that they created and loved so well.

THE GOOD: With this film, you have the mental breakdown of Jackie Kennedy after her husband's death. You get to see how much she is in shock of her husband's death. It doesn't shy away from his death and present it in a graphic way that you feel for Mrs. Kennedy as she slowly starts to experience PTSD.  You see her crying, drinking, smoking, and doing various of other things trying to cope with this tragic event especially in the first night of his death. It is one of those one woman show films that gives you a mindset of a fully three-dimensional woman who was more than a First Lady, but in fact a genuine human being who loved her husband and her attempt to preserving his legacy. This film is entirely centered on her and the preparation for her husband's memorial. It shows the different obstacles she goes through and performance is perfected by Natalie Portman.

Natalie Portman's performance carries the film entirely.  You could tell Portman had to do a plenty of research for this role because she embodies both the look and voice of Kennedy herself. If you listen to recordings of Kennedy's voice it's exactly alike to the voice Portman puts on and it is flawless. Even historians would be impressed by Portman's performance. Her performance is truly one of best to be seen this year. After her performance, you can just imagine her finishing production and saying "okay can I get my second Oscar now?" The baby in her belly would be the good luck. She was pregnant the first time she received her Oscar. Since she's pregnant again maybe she receive another one.

Peter Sarsgaard who off the unmemorable heels of The Magnificent Seven gives a surprisingly brilliant performance as Bobby Kennedy who has several speeches that sometimes outshine Jackie. You see him hiding his pain of his brother's death and you see how internally it breaks him. His presence and conversation with Jackie at times are just touchingly written because you have two different people wanting the same outcome with a person they both dearly loved funeral but with different views as to preserve JFK as Jackie wants it more openly presented as Bobby wanted it closed. He has his Academy Award Supporting Actor moment where he breaks in tears in a moment that is arguably more emotional than Jackie's breaking moment.

The film integrates several archive footage from actual videos during some of the historic moments taken place in the film. If it is following a sequence, the film's aspect ratio starts to box to show actual arrivals and events that truly took place. If it's not using archive footage, sometimes it visually recreates some videos such as the 1962 documentary White House Tour with Jackie Kennedy. The reason I say visually is because you can't tell if it's audio is Natalie Portman doing Jackie's voice or if it is Jackie's voice herself. That is how similar Portman's voice resembles Jackie Kennedy.

THE BAD: The film has a great setup where Jackie Kennedy recalls the events of JFK's death to journalist Theodore H. White and it sets up different timelines in her life pre and post assassination. It switches a lot back and forth. But then it sets up another timeline halfway through the film as it abandons another that by the end when the film needs to be wrapped up all timelines are thrown in to resolve and conclude. It is a lot to take in for the audience because it has a numerous of endings that can compete with the amount The Return of King had.

The film features a loud bombastic and haunting score orchestrated by Mica Levi who did the score for Jonathan Glazer film Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johansson. The score is great where it is one of the only moments I have paid attention to non-diegetic music beyond the film that is presented. The only issue is that sometimes the music is too loud that you can't hear what the characters are saying. It just makes you wanna scream, "WHAT DID HE SAY?! SOMEBODY CUT OFF THE MUSIC I WANNA HEAR WHAT HE SAID," but then you realize it's just the film's music.

LAST STATEMENT: With a hauntingly outstanding performance by Natalie Portman, is a great biopic that dives into the psyche of a woman whose public figure is much more than we perceive her to be.

Rating: 4/5 | 87%

Super Scene: Jackie listens to her husbands favorite song as drinking her sorrows away.