Written by: Noah Oppenheim
Directed by: Pablo Larraín
Starring: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, John Hurt, John Carroll Lynch
Rated: R
Plot
Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.
Verdict
This movie is carried by a great performance. It's a fresh approach to the JFK assassination, seeing it through his wife's eyes, but this won't be a movie I want to see again. It sets up the character of Jacqueline. We see her strength and determination, and that's the only goal of the movie, to establish the character as she fights through the torment of losing her husband.
It depends.
Review
On one hand you wonder how many times this story has been told, but this focuses on Jacqueline, a viewpoint we haven't or at least don't often see. If you can't instantly recall what the real Jacqueline Kennedy looked like, and I couldn't, you'll think Portman is a close likeness. The hair is accurate, but they don't share much of a resemblance. I give the movie credit for making me think otherwise.
The movie is framed around an interview after the assassination. Through that and flashbacks we see a woman dealing with a great loss after a tragic event. Portman is great. She conveys emotion and determination to a high degree throughout. It's her performance that carries this. Much of the movie focuses on her, her reactions, tears, and movements. It's about grief and the strength of a woman that had to overcome politics, though politics does play a role.
Jacqueline made decisions to cement the Kennedy legacy and create the myth of Camelot. She has to make decisions because of who she is and her family without getting a moment to grieve.
It gets very graphic toward the end as we see the assassination firsthand. It's a well made movie, but it's more of a performance piece than a movie.
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