Film review Jackie

JACKIE
Directed by Pablo Larrain
Screenplay by Noah Oppenheim
Starring Natalie Portman; Peter Sarsgaard; Greta Gerwig; and Billy Crudup




This film follows Jackie Kennedy from the day of the assassination thru the funeral as told to a journalist ( Crudup) some time after.

Well lets get to the highlight and that is the acting:

Portman as Jackie Kennedy is so good. What a difficult part, she captures the voice and mannerisms of the iconic symbol of class and distinction. Throw in playing a part that is so cold at that particular time and place. The first funeral shown to our heartbroken country in the age of television.She pulls it off.
Greta Gerwig as Jackie's assistant Nancy Tuckerman. Well if you have been following my blog for awhile you know Gerwig is one of my favorites. Here she plays a part that she rarely plays. A backseat to the star in a small film. As usual she shines, in such a small part!! Here, often you see Gerwig says so much with a look or a movement while watching Portman from across the room, I wonder if Portman at any point in the filming thought "Damn how did we get her to agree to this small part. We are so lucky!"
Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy plays another difficult part. His brother died. He has to watch over his sister-in-law. He also has to take part in the planning of the funeral. He also has to be the go between as helps with the transition of power. Sarsgard really likes interesting odd parts and he always pulls them off. As a viewer it is sometimes difficult to watch because you know he will be shot in the near future.
Speaking of difficult to watch:
This script is cold. But the story is cold. Somebody was killed. It takes us behind the scenes of the White House during this difficult time, as we watch Jackie"s inner-struggle to be composed for the nation. To be a good mother. To fight for her husbands memory. And as the story is told to the reporter she is basically looking back. Almost angry. So you have a very cold story. Told with anger. Still could not tell where the anger comes from. Is it Oswald and a government cover up? Not sure. It is so cold it really does not dig deep into thoughts and reason at the time and place.

So an odd, sad, cold, angry story. Yet it is interesting, it puts you right there. It is tragic. I think only the 3 leads separate it from a History Channel film.That may be not enough for me, I thought the same about the Lincoln film years a go. 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for Jackie. You walk out with sadness in your heart. Still painful to watch. Not big enough for the big screen.

If you get a chance to watch this and like it, which I did, I recommend Parkland, which takes place at Parkland Hospital in Dallas where JFK was taken to. It is really good. Parkland is available for home viewing also.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.