Natalie Portman is terrific in a thin one dimensional film

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2017)

This film tackles how Jackie Kennedy struggled, coped and ultimately survived the days between John F Kennedy's assassination and funeral, with honour and public persona intact, if not enhanced. A few, but intense days, full of conflicting directional pulls from family, politicians, public servants and her own sense of the obligations of her role in US history.
I can't begin to imagine how ghastly this time must have been for her, with the wildly differing needs of her young children, the political machine now headed by Lyndon Johnston, her sense of obligation to instill a sense of the historic significance of the events and the desires of the political influencers, both elected and salaried.
The film implies it is historically accurate, and I think is plausibly so, but some vintage footage (such as of the walked procession, against security staff advice) would have strengthened that claim. A lot of time was devoted to Jackie's then revolutionary openness in the televised tour of the White House, including the agreement of JFK for her leading role, unusual at that time for a woman. This provided substance supporting her acts seeking to provide a sense of historical context for the highest office of the US of A, which is challenging in a sequence of mostly biologically unrelated presidents who serve up to one or two, four year terms.
I heard an interview with a producer or similar of this film just recently who said that if Natalie Portman had said 'no', the film would not have been made. This seems an insightful comment, because without Portman's performance, I don't think we'd have much to talk about. The story period is so short, the role of all other characters so insignificant, and the general level of knowledge of events portrayed so well known that it really reveals little you wouldn't know or guess.
This in my view is the great weakness of this film – despite a leading actress that might just win this year's best actress Oscar, it is a thin, one trick pony.