Over ambitious and over glamorised

Rating: 6/10 (9 February 2017)

Jackie is a straightforward film on Jackie Kennedy's life shortly after the death of her husband, the president of the United States of America. Using snippets of real footage, it delves into her life prior, during, and post the death, and how she thinks, and what she does.
Natalie Portman portrays Jackie Kennedy with incredible gusto, going to great lengths to evoke the trauma that Jackie would have suffered. It is sorrow and pain that Portman paints through her portrayal, and the resulting actions, whether for better or worse.
Jackie is filmed in a very interesting manner; using a lot of close- ups, eerie music, dry and dreary-coloured scenes, and picturesque still moments. Pablo Larrain used music and silence to really drive the concept of death and its affects on all involved. Larrain has brought his own style to an American film that no other director could do without coming across too campy or patriotic. However, Larrain manages a tasteful style that brings elegance, poise, and deliberateness to the role of presidency, and to those who are intimately involved.
However, with all that is said, the film has no clear message or point by the end, and feels needless and unnecessary. The concept of Jackie Kennedy is glamorised and put on a pedestal with no aim. Whilst interesting, by film's end, a feeling of disappointment and emptiness can't be helped. And no lingering affect of any shape is felt by the film, with no poignant message; contrary to the expectation.