"The more I read, the more I wonder: when something's written down...does that make it true?"

Rating: 6/10 (28 January 2017)

Recreating history: from her home in Hyannis Port, Mass. in 1963--one week after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas--grieving widow Jacqueline Kennedy tells her side of the story to a reporter. But what is the story? Pill-popping, chain-smoking Jackie is angry at God and her in-laws, she's bitter about having to leave her home in the White House for the in-coming Johnsons (whom she is portrayed to feel cold towards), she's confused about her place in the world and her identity, and she is feeling no reverence to her own legacy--she is more concerned with her husband's (when she sees department store mannequins done up in her image, you have to read your own thoughts in Jackie's benumbed expression). It's never easy for a project such as this to completely erase our memories of this era--as well our TV memories, since most of this historical chapter was well-documented on film and has been running on television ever since 1963. Still, director Pablo Larraín, doing careful, fluid work, has done an excellent job setting the stage for Camelot's tragic fall, using quick glimpses of actual newsreel footage to compliment his visual narrative. Star Natalie Portman obviously studied the real Jacqueline Kennedy (her style, her mannerisms, her cadence of speech), and she's successful at conveying the character's inner-turmoil, although nobody on-screen appears to give Jackie much sympathy (was she that much of an outcast in Washington?). Portman and Larrain attempt to give this woman a soul; however, no one knows what really went on behind closed doors, and so scene after scene of Jackie walking through rooms in a daze, drinking heavily and counting out pain pills on the coffee table, have a masochistic feel. When Jackie catches a glimpse of her haggard self in the mirror and freezes, we have no idea what she's thinking--nor how Larrain wants us to respond. This is a beautifully and meticulously designed picture, but an impersonal one--and yet I doubt it could be improved upon. Many filmmakers throughout the years have tried separating the real Jacqueline Kennedy from the image, but she was a fiercely private and enigmatic person. Unless someone comes up with a purely fictionalized characterization (and Mort Fine came close with his screenplay for 1978's "The Greek Tycoon"), a detached, look-but-don't-touch portrait such as this must suffice. **1/2 from ****