Jackie

2016’s “Jackie” by Pablo Larraín.

Starring Natalie Portman, Billie Crudup, Peter Sarsgaard, and Greta Gerwig.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress (Portman), Best score (Mica Levi), and Best Costume Design (Madeline Fontaine).

What is it about?

“Jackie” avoids the typical biopic route, and instead hyper focuses primarily on the few days surrounding the assassination of JFK- and Jackie’s role in her attempts to preserve her husband (and Kennedy family’s) respective legacy. Just what will she have to do to save their family's image amidst terrible heartbreak and tragedy?

Why is it worth seeing?

There's been a lot of buzz about Natalie being a frontrunner for her Oscar nominated turn as Jackie Oassis. Jackie is exactly the kind of film that does a close up of somebody for the movie’s running time and leaves the actor with no place to hide, and in this cramped space Portman delivers. She has the same affectations that Jackie herself allegedly developed, such as the mid atlantic accent she wasn’t born with and her breathless speaking style. More importantly, she delivers on displaying the complications of being a public figure, grieving about the loss of her husband and first lady status, while trying to remain composed and fighting an administration eager to move on. Greta Gerwig is strong here as well, in a role that suggests she's more versatile than one would think.


Composer Mica Levi’s score is eerily effective, during this very troubling time in our collective history (Conspiracy theorists are welcome to google Zapruder film and have a viewing of Oliver Stone’s “JFK”) for further perspective.

Larrain creates a very personal and abstract snapshot of an historical figure, putting us in her expensive but bloody shoes during a very trying time. It's jagged edges suggest a life lived on the peripheral but always exposed by the political system.

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.