Anyway, this past Friday night during said week, I found myself hanging out with the current Prince of Blues in Gary Clark Jr. We, through many random drunken nights, somehow have mutual friends and I actually got to meet and hang out with him, albeit for only 10 minutes. But as he stood there, I was amazed how this guy who used to play shithole venues for $8-10 a ticket has now somehow secured a front row seat at the Grammy’s with a gorgeous model by his side. Has life always been this way? Could anyone really rise from obscurity and become the toast of the nation like this back in the good ole days?
Well every time I ask myself this question, either a television show or a movie about Jackie Onassis pops up and I’m instantly reminded that the answer is clearly yes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jackie O just like the next man, but when it all comes down to it, all she ever really did was spruce up the White House a bit and wear fresh clothing. I mean, couldn’t Kim Kardashian do the same thing? Please o please let Kanye get elected president so we can see this happen!
I do however give her a ton of credit for how she handled herself in the days that followed her husband’s assassination. She may have been paler than a vanilla milkshake but in those days she acted as black as Madea in Boo! A Madea Halloween. "Aww hell naw ghost!" And these are the days the film Jackie places its focus on.
Now with its nonlinear storytelling, they do take you back to her infamous tour of the White House where she shows off her restoration projects of some of the landmark’s most famous rooms, but for the most part, the director Pablo Lorrain treats this as a rather intense character study of one of the world’s most beloved figures. And given the influence this gracious woman had on housewives everywhere, I’m not sure that this country will ever love another president or his wife in the same manner. Obama may have been the closest we’ll ever get to that point again but outside of a few people who are still waiting to collect his entry fee from their yearly March Madness pool, I doubt many would have cried if he got assassinated. Who knows, I could be wrong. I might have cried but I also cried when Ricky got shot in Boyz in Da Hood, so there’s that. But back to the review…
This film is all about Natalie Portman and her brilliant performance. I was mesmerized by her in The Professional, was in awe of her in Closer, and fell in love with her in Black Swan. And after being completely floored by her latest performance in Jackie, I’d have to say that she is now firmly planted amongst the best A listers in Hollywood; that’s male and female mind you. 70 percent of the film consists of close-ups of Jackie’s reactions to her now forever changed world.
One moment she is horrified by the events that have just taken place and the next she’s consumed with vanity and does everything she can within her power to uphold her reputation as well as that of her husband’s. She tries to stay strong as she attempts to tell her children what has happened while at the same time spending her days drinking and smoking herself numb in an attempt to wash away the pain. Now outside of a few tense moments that exist between the toupee wearing Peter Sarsgaard (Bobby Kennedy) and John Carroll Lynch (of course they cast a guy with three names to play Lyndon Baines Johnson), Lorrain plays it relatively safe when it comes to the violence of that time; that is until the film’s third and final act.
This isn’t the greatest film I’ve ever seen but it’s certainly beautifully shot and Portman is a wonder to marvel at; and it’s because of this that I can’t help but give it a rating of FRESH!
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