Jackie

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2017)

There have been a good number of films about one of the most famous assassinations in history, JFK (1991) and Parkland (2013) are the best examples, but this one I knew was going to interesting, from the perspective of the victim's wife, and it was getting attention during Awards Season. Basically Jacqueline Kennedy (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Natalie Portman) is the beautiful First Lady, wife of President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Caspar Phillipson). The film follows her trauma and the struggles of Jackie, in her personal and political life, in the days immediately after the assassination of her husband. Jackie not only has to cope with her own loss, including consoling their two young children, but the world has been completely shattered by the tragic news, she has to carry the weight of his legacy on her shoulders, and remain dignified and poised. Following the murder of JFK, Jackie watches Lyndon B. Johnson (John Carroll Lynch) sworn in as the new President, makes arrangements for the state funeral, having conversations with John's brother Bobby Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard) and the Priest (John Hurt, who tragically died of cancer five days after the film's release), and will have to plan for her departure from the White House. These events are seen in flashback, Jackie is living in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, she is telling her story, her memories of her husband and the murder, becoming a widow and leaving her former home, in an interview with journalist Theodore H. White (Billy Crudup) for Life magazine. Also starring Greta Gerwig as Nancy Tuckerman, Richard E. Grant as Bill Walton, Beth Grant as Lady Bird Johnson, Max Casella as Jack Valenti, Sunnie Pelant as Caroline Kennedy, Aidan O'Hare as Kenny O'Donnell, David Caves as Clint Hill, Penny Downie as Janet Lee and Ralph Brown as Dave Powers. Portman is the perfect choice to play the iconic former First Lady, she is very similar looking to the real woman, and is very convincing with all her emotions, there are some good supporting performances also. It is an interesting choice of editing, for the story to be told through an interview, the graphic death of JFK is left until near the end, there are many close-up shots of the title character which certainly get your attention, the events following the death are engaging, and the attention to detail with the costumes is splendid, it is a most watchable biographical historical drama. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score for Mica Levi, and it won the BAFTA for Best Costume Design, and it was nominated for Original Music. Very good!