The Kennedys are American Royalty. Their goings on have been discuss ad nauseum by the country since John’s presidential campaign. Jackie is about the first lady in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination, and how she helped shape how he would be remembered. I suppose if you’re a fan of the Kennedy celebrity, Jackie will be riveting cinema. For me, it was a boring endeavor and excuse to talk about the Kennedy’s more.
Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman) got really famous in the US from her tour of the White House, where she placed years of history from past administrations into the hallways and rooms of the White House. She was quite good at presenting the US citizens with a world they wanted to see. In the wake of her husband’s abrupt end to his administration, Jackie sees to it to impart the same tactics she used on the White House for her husband’s legacy. She relays this information to a journalist (Billy Crudup) whom she tells what he can and cannot print to shape the story her way.
The technical achievements and direction were the highlight of Jackie for me. Old footage was incorporated, mimicked, reenacted, matched…basically seamlessly immersed into the storytelling. Pablo Lorrain must have had great difficulty filtering his lenses and editing this film. Not only does he have to match the footage, but he also had to find close facsimiles to Lyndon Johnson, John and Bobby Kennedy, and other members of the White House Staff and integrate them into the shots. Normally I find noticeable direction intrusive, but Lorrain never draws attention to a style, but uses it to tell his story. Well done on his part.
I know I’m in the minority, but I will never understand President Kennedy’s aura. Jackie reaffirmed my feelings. The most interesting parts of this movie are when Jackie’s walking through the White House after the assassination being juxtaposed with her chipper tour videos. That parallel helps show how this woman had to maintain her elegance in the face of brutal terror. However, this movie uses the reporter more as another show of how influential this woman was on her husband’s legacy. But…who cares? All this continues to prove to me is that John Kennedy’s legacy was inflated by media sources refusing to speak truth to power. I came away empty because this movie is another way to perpetuate the Kennedy name, when that is just not necessary. If you’re not a Kennedy obsessive, you’ll be yawning 30 minutes in like I was.
Despite Natalie Portman’s solid performance, Jackie is more of the same when it comes to the Kennedys. The story goes either to conspiracy or Kennedy legacy, and Jackie aims for the latter, at least from a different perspective, but still telling the same story. I hope this is the last piece about the Kennedy’s I have to watch, at this point it is like a reality TV show.