Skip to main content

Jackie



Starring: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and John Hurt
Directed by: Pablo Larraín
Screenplay by: Noah Oppenheim

     Told through flashback, this is the story of Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman) in the days after the assassination of her husband, the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy.  This is the story of the First Lady navigating this horrible tragedy through grief, helping her children through it, regaining her faith, and defining her husband's legacy as President.
     I went into this movie thinking it would be a biopic of Jackie Kennedy's life, encompassing as much of her life as possible, the way many biopics do.  But this film is interesting.  It only tells the story of about one week in her life, a very important week in her life.  We only see this part of her life.  She is interviewed by a journalist (Billy Crudup) and everything else we see is through flashback.  It is entirely from her point of view.
     This isn't a film in which a viewer can learn all that much history.  The film has in mind the viewer's knowledge of history and the events that occurred.  There is not much that is shown of the transition of power from Kennedy to Johnson (although they do show the swearing in on Air Force One).  The story is not told from a historical standpoint, but a personal one, making it all the more interesting, and shedding more light on the events of November 22, 1963 and the days after.
      Natalie Portman delivers a truly remarkable performance.  This is certainly one of her finest performances, up there with Black Swan, for which she won the Academy Award.  She is emotional, but elegant as Jackie Kennedy.
      Cinematically, the film looks like a 1960s style film.  It is not shot in the highest of quality, and in some scenes clearly looks like it was shot on 35mm film instead of shot digitally.  It is an immersive experience for the viewer in this way.
     Jackie is a film where style and substance blend perfectly to create a film that is compelling and beautiful.  It will certainly gain some recognition this coming awards season.
     I give Jackie an A-.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unknown

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, and January Jones Directed by:   Jaume Collet-Serra Screenplay by: Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell     "They had me convinced I was crazy.  But when they came to take me I knew."  Identity theft is a major problem in today's world, but it can't get much worse than the situation present in Unknown .       While on a trip to a biotechnology conference in Berlin, Germany, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is involved in a car crash putting him in a coma for four days.  He awakens to find out that not only has his identity been taken, but he has been replaced by someone who also claims to be him.  Even his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) claims to not recognize him.  He begins to believe that his entire life has been thrown away, or never existed at all.  As he finds people who can help him remember what happened to him before the crash, he becomes part of a conspiracy involving...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Hunger Games

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth Directed by: Gary Ross Screenplay by: Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins      If reality television hasn't gone too far yet, then this show should definitely make it go too far.      In a futuristic nation called Panem, one boy and one girl are selected from each of the nation's twelve districts to represent them in an annual television event called the Hunger Games.  Of the 24 contestants, only one will survive in this televised fight to the death.      I like the concept of the story.  While this futuristic society seems somewhat simple, it does not seem all that well developed.  It is unknown how this society came into being, even though it is known how the Hunger Games began.      If this film were released last year, I would have hoped it would be nominated for best make-up.  Many of the characters ...
2 comments
Read more

Django Unchained

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Screenplay by: Quentin Tarantino      I think it's safe to say that this film is the most badass film of 2012.  My only explanation; Quentin Tarantino!!!!      When someone asks what a Quentin Tarantino film is about, I first respond with "that's a good question".  But there is actually a real story behind all of his films, including Django Unchained.        Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is a bounty hunter in the pre-Civil War South.  He's looking for a group of bandits known as the Brittle brothers.  He comes across a slave in a slave transport known as Django (the D is silent (Jamie Foxx)), who knows where to find the Brittle brothers.  But Django has a wife he wants to find (Kerry Washington).  She's a slave at a plantation owned by Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). ...
1 comment
Read more