Iron Lady

Rating: Null/10 (17 January 2017)

As per 'The Iron Lady', this is not a straightforward biographical drama but rather a stream of consciousness style movie that flips between timelines while examining Jackie Kennedy with a particular focus on the events immediately preceding and following her husband's assassination. While the narrative is framed by an interview with a reporter, all other time periods are very much blurred. This approach occasionally makes the film difficult to follow, but it certainly gets inside the title character's mind as she processes both the aftermath of the assassination and the event itself, questioning and self-doubting whether she could have done more to help her husband and prevent him dying. Clocking in at around 100 minutes though, the film feels incredibly long for what it is and rather repetitive with much of the screen time dedicated to Jackie's decisions regarding funeral procession arrangements for her husband. Whatever the case, Natalie Portman hardly ever hits a false note in the lead role. Some have criticised her performance as very mannered, but that seems very much on point: she is a public figure, constantly forced to put on a certain face with the smallest of moments (wiping JFK's blood off her clothes and face) all that is needed to suggest depth beyond the mask. The film also benefits from another haunting, moody score by 'Under the Skin' composer Mica Levi and archive footage is well spliced throughout. 'Jackie' is not an easy film to sit through and may have worked better at half its length, but it definitely resonates in the mind afterwards.