This movie received 3 Oscar nominations, and I am having a hard time finding another actress who gives us the kind of performance that Natalie Portman does here. I was also very impressed with the movie's score by Mica Levi which really set the grime tone of the story in the movie. What we have here is something that may be unique movie-making. It takes a well-known and well-covered story of the Kennedys and focuses it on Jackie, herself.
As one watches this movie, one realizes that--after 50 years with countless articles, movies, and documentaries about John F. Kennedy, his family, his administration, and his assassination--we still didn't have anything that focused in on Jackie and what she had to suddenly endure in front of the whole world. Here, we see Jackie striped bare and alone. Accented by the dysphoric chords of the movie's score, we see Jackie as a famous person with no one to really lean on. The camera constantly shows Jackie as an isolated, often silly, figure trying hopelessly to make sense of her role in the drama unfolding around her. What should she do? How can she help to make the Kennedy legacy last and be understood in the most positive way?
While Bobby (Peter Sarsgaard), does make an appearance in the movie, he does not seem to always understand what SHE is going through: packing up the belongings of the White House so that the Johnsons can movie in; taking care of the children; and making decisions about the funeral.
This is clearly Natalie Postman's movie, and although you may not like her vocal cadence and tone, you see and hear a person trying to maintain a sense of dignity in a private world of chaos. As Jack Valenti (Max Casella) moves into the White House, Jackie becomes a stranger in a strange world.
The late John Hurt is also featured in this movie as Jackie's priest who tries to help her makes sense of life. Although his part is small, it is important to the story.
As one watches this movie, one realizes that--after 50 years with countless articles, movies, and documentaries about John F. Kennedy, his family, his administration, and his assassination--we still didn't have anything that focused in on Jackie and what she had to suddenly endure in front of the whole world. Here, we see Jackie striped bare and alone. Accented by the dysphoric chords of the movie's score, we see Jackie as a famous person with no one to really lean on. The camera constantly shows Jackie as an isolated, often silly, figure trying hopelessly to make sense of her role in the drama unfolding around her. What should she do? How can she help to make the Kennedy legacy last and be understood in the most positive way?
While Bobby (Peter Sarsgaard), does make an appearance in the movie, he does not seem to always understand what SHE is going through: packing up the belongings of the White House so that the Johnsons can movie in; taking care of the children; and making decisions about the funeral.
This is clearly Natalie Postman's movie, and although you may not like her vocal cadence and tone, you see and hear a person trying to maintain a sense of dignity in a private world of chaos. As Jack Valenti (Max Casella) moves into the White House, Jackie becomes a stranger in a strange world.
The late John Hurt is also featured in this movie as Jackie's priest who tries to help her makes sense of life. Although his part is small, it is important to the story.