This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Few moments in history have been dissected as thoroughly as that day in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed.
But while movies have looked at the killing itself (the Zapruder film), the people who worked around the president that day ("Parkland") or the many conspiracies that swirled around his death ("JFK"), one person's story has remained largely untold. That's the story of the woman who sat next to JFK in his final moments: his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy.
Director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim — aided by a breathtaking central performance by Natalie Portman — blend historical events and educated speculation with delicate care and emotional impact in "Jackie." The result is a moody and heartfelt examination of JFK's death and its aftermath, through the eyes of the first lady who ensured her husband's legacy would be lasting.
The movie starts with the public Jackie, the patrician with the whisper-soft voice whom most Americans met when she led a televised tour of the White House. Portman impersonates that Jackie in every technical detail, but she also gives us something more: a sense of intelligence that shines in spite of the restrictions placed on her in the sexist 1960s.
Larrain and Oppenheim go deeper to bring forward the private Jackie, the one who fought expectations — and members of the stubborn Johnson administration quickly taking over the White House she renovated — to preserve JFK's place in history.
That story is told through a framing device, as a nameless journalist (played by Billy Crudup) meets Jackie at Hyannis a week after JFK's death. Jackie lays down the law that she will tell the reporter which quotes are approved and which are not, and then proceeds to compare the Kennedy White House to King Arthur's court — as emulated by what she says was Jack's favorite musical, "Camelot."
The scene shifts to Dallas and the chaos after the assassination. Then things move quickly back to Washington, as Jackie takes charge to plan a funeral procession for her husband, modeled after the honors given to Abraham Lincoln. As she does, she must comfort her young children, Caroline and John Jr., and confront the reality that she must move out of the White House to make room for the Johnsons.
Oppenheim's script carefully crosses the divide between documented events and those moments when Jackie was alone or with people — like a sage priest, played by John Hurt — who kept their counsel private. The result is less of a historical document and, thanks to some educated guesswork and dramatic license, more of an emotional chronicle.
Larrain, a Chilean director whose campaign drama "No" was a masterpiece of political optimism, here creates a poetic diary of shifting moods, as Jackie moves from grief to despair to maternal protectiveness to a steely resolve to represent Jack's memory. With cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine's command of spaces and Mica Levi's haunting score, Larrain turns the White House into a gilt-edge prison from which Jackie must ultimately escape to save herself and her family.
It's a space where many talented actors have subsumed their wilder impulses to Larrain's controlled approach. The standouts in the supporting cast include Peter Sarsgaard as a haunted Robert Kennedy, and Greta Gerwig as Nancy Tuckerman, Jackie's social secretary and seemingly the only friend she has in the White House.
"Jackie," though, belongs wholly to the actor in the title role. Portman's performance reaches past mere impersonation — though she delivers the details of Jackie's mannerisms with precision — to capture her sense of dignity that allowed her, in the face of her husband's horrific death, to complete the task of establishing his place in history. It was Jackie's, and the country's, most terrible hour, but thanks to the woman "Jackie" depicts so beautifully, it was also our most defining hour.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
HHHhj
'Jackie'
Natalie Portman, guided by a sharp script and impeccable direction, brings Jacqueline Kennedy's pain and persistence to life in this biographical drama.
Where • Area theaters.
When • Opens Wednesday, Dec. 21.
Rating • R for brief strong violence and some language.
Running time • 100 minutes.