JACKIE MOVIE

This movie focuses on two years in the life of Jackie Kennedy: Her years as first lady, and on the days following her husband’s assassination.  Released on December 2, 2016, this much-heralded biopic features Natalie Portman in the title role.

Critical reviews have almost been unanimous in their praise of “Jackie.”  One reviewer noted that “Chilean director (Pablo) Larrain’s status as the most daring and prodigious political filmmaker of his generation remains undimmed.”  Another called the movie “intensely affecting and insistently protean.”  However, as is the case in virtually all motion pictures, this movie will not satisfy everyone; there are simply too many failures and errors to make for a satisfying movie experience.

It must be admitted that Portman’s voice bears an uncanny resemblance to Jackie Kennedy’s.  Her mannerisms are likewise reminiscent of the first lady, and the portrayals of the other main characters are also most convincing and historically accurate.  But while this gets the movie off to a good start, there are far too many disturbing aspects to warrant a universally positive review.

First and foremost is the camera work.  In almost every scene, the camera constantly bobs around, bouncing up and down and left to right which can only make one wonder if the cameraman had been constantly imbibing alcohol during the filming.  The end result rendered me almost dizzy; I had to constantly look away from the screen to avoid motion sickness.  Whoever did the actual filming was unquestionably not up to the task; I have never observed such incompetence in a major motion picture before.  It is singularly amazing that none of the other reviewers have noted this disturbing fact.  In addition, the camera focused far too often on extreme closeups of the subjects rather than on more panoramic views, which makes far too much of the movie seem like talking heads.  The visual quality of the film is often grainy as well; graininess is expected and even welcome in certain scenes, such as the tour of the White House (although over-exaggerated), but it is omnipresent in other scenes as well, making the overall visual effect of the movie decidedly amateurish.

The movie constantly shifts back and forth in time rather than presenting the story in chronological sequence.  While this might not confuse anyone familiar enough with the story, it will certainly befuddle other viewers.  I was reminded of a similar strategy employed in the movie “Amadeus” in which Mozart’s antagonist Antonio Salieri is shown near the end of his life discussing Mozart’s genius.  The consequent flashbacks do not distract from the movie in the least; indeed, they are extremely effective and add to the flow of the movie’s story line.  “Titanic” was also presented in this way, as have numerous other successful movies.  Unfortunately, this strategy simply does not work in “Jackie.”

There are also significant omissions, most notably the famous scene in which JFK Jr. salutes his father’s coffin as it passes by.  This omission is baffling, to say the least.  More significantly, the film does not delve into the background of its main characters; their parents and character development are accorded scant attention, a necessity in any biopic; instead, we are presented with the characters fully developed without any hint on how they got to where they are.  Considering the importance of JFK’s father Joseph on the president’s character development, this is an unforgivable oversight.  And the inevitable scene in which JFK is assassinated shows extremely graphic closeups of the president’s shattered head.  This is nothing more than cheap exploitation and achieves nothing other than vulgar shock value; it should have never been filmed.

Finally, although biopics are developed differently than most other types of films, one is still left with the impression that there is no plot whatever and very little action in this movie.  Not only does this make for an extremely dull portrait of its main characters, it also renders the movie itself likewise uninteresting.

In summary, despite the superb realization of Jackie Kennedy by Natalie Portman and the overall fine work of the other actors, this movie fails dismally in many areas.  The camera work is laughingly amateurish.  There is no character development of any kind.  The visual quality of the film is often poor.  There are key scenes that are entirely overlooked.  Even the music score is boring and forgettable. These and other failings make “Jackie” a frustrating movie to watch.

On a scale of one to ten, with ten being best, I would rate this film as a 3.