Review of Jackie (2016) by Warwick B — 21 Mar 2017

Jackie is an intimate and quietly harrowing biopic of one of the most pivotal and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the First Lady, with the film placing the audience in her world during the days immediately after the assassination of her husband, President John F Kennedy, in 1963.

In his English language debut, director Pablo Larrain delves deep into psyche of Jackie Onassis, showing a woman, known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, teetering on the brink as she fights to hold amid the horror of losing her husband and subsequent turmoil at the White House.

Larrain gathered together some impeccable talents to bring Jackie to life, including costume designer Madeline Fontaine who wonderfully recreated Jackie's trademark outfits, production designer Jean Rabasse who is near perfect in his recreations of the White House interiors and composer Mica Levi whose accompanying beautiful haunting and powerfully sparse score provides a melancholy pulse for the film.

Natalie Portman is spellbinding in Larrain's stunning portrayal giving the performance of a lifetime. Her Jackie is scattered, tense and wrecked, but defiant in the face of those who would prefer she hide away and grieve quietly.

The supporting cast is highly impressive, including Peter Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy, Greta Gerwig as loyal aide Nancy Tuckerman, Billy Crudup as a journalist writing a profile of the President for Time magazine and the late John Hurt as a priest attempting to guide JFK's widow through the worst of her black thoughts. But still this is Portman's film, which is no mere biopic but a fascinating study of a person whom history has transformed into an icon.