Jackie

I am a pretty big history lover and as a film enthusiast, I am really into films based on true stories. There are a few films based on the JFK assassination and while I like "Parkland" a bit better, "Jackie" had its moments. Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman gave a performance that seemed to get better as the film progressed and the audience slowly forgot her other film personas. The show was shot in an interesting way and the design of the film was given the needed attention to resurrect the 60's. The sense of drama seemed forced at sometimes however and I always like films where the drama comes across naturally.

The second most conspicuous aspect of the movie besides Portman's performance is the cinematography. At the start of the film, I felt like I was watching a movie by Tom Hooper or Wes Anderson because the camera angles are very symmetrical. Something else I noticed was the aspect ratio as 1.66:1. I think this was to allow for the effective integration of archival footage. The integration of footage from 1963 was great but one shot showed the real Robert Kennedy up close and it ruined the illusion. At least the integration was even better than in Emilio Estevez's "Bobby". The design of the movie was also noteworthy because "Jackie" truly felt like it was set in the early 60's. Historians agree that the JFK assassination is when the world lost a lot of its innocence. The private rooms of the White House, such as the bedroom, really sell this because we have a newly widowed First Lady moving around in rooms that contrast the current climate. Another use of contrast in the film came courtesy of the use of "Camelot" by Lerner and Loewe. I did not know that the "Life" interview, portrayed as a framing device in this film, was the origin of "Camelot" as it refers to the JFK administration. Having that song from the musical accompany the film images, especially during the climax, was quite powerful. I was impressed with how the portrayal of the assassination seemed to come out of nowhere. It mirrors the shock of the actual event. The funeral procession scene was shot on location in downtown Washington by the way. As mentioned, the drama of the movie was noticeable but wasn't perfectly sincere. Maybe it was the lack of film chemistry between Portman and some of the other actors but it could also be that Jackie Kennedy was the only source of real drama. Most dramatic films that are successful have all the cast members contribute to the emotions that are emitted from the movie. Finally, an important moment of symbolism is when Jackie can't take off her wedding ring.

Natalie Portman did a lot of studying for this role and it shows. She also seemed to let her hairstyle do a lot of the work because from the back, I couldn't tell it was her. One reason I know why Portman's performance was good is because towards the end, she seemed a lot less like Natalie Portman and more like Jackie Kennedy. I first saw Billy Crudup on "Mission: Impossible III" and he did his job pretty well. I recognized John Hurt right away. He and actress Greta Gerwig had chemistry with Portman in their scenes. The musical score I felt was a distraction. Its use in the opening of the film didn't work all that well because it came across too strong. If I could change anything about this show, it would be to have Steven Spielberg involved somehow because he expressed interest in the project on two occasions. "Jackie" was initially conceived as an HBO miniseries produced by Spielberg. After Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky passed on directing the film version, Spielberg again explored the idea of directing (Aronofsky stayed on as a producer by the way).

The man who did end up in the director's chair, Pablo Larrain, made movie that looked great but had problems with the sincerity of its drama. I had a feeling that the aspect of this film that would show up in upcoming award ceremonies, and rightfully so, was the performance of Natalie Portman as the title character. I was right with Portman earning an Oscar nomination among other things. "Jackie" was also nominated on Oscar night for Best Musical Score and Best Costume Design. I was certain it would win the latter but my hopes were let down. The movie got better as it went along thanks to Portman and it is always better for a film to improve over its running time.

3.5 Stars out of 5