Jackie (2016)

Every bit as powerful as we expected, the story of the first lady's perspective on the assassination of JFK is brilliant, though hard to watch, especially for those of us who lived through it. That said, there are a number of uncomfortable laughs, as a brittle Jackie is interviewed by a journalist afterwards.

Natalie Portman (last blogged for Thor: The Dark World) has earned her third Oscar nomination (nominated for Closer (2004), she won for Black Swan) with careful study of the accent and body language of the title character. She is in almost every scene but there is solid supporting work from Billy Crudup as the journalist (said to be based on an actual interview with Theodore H. White for Life magazine, one week after the assassination) and Greta Gerwig as White House Social Secretary Nancy Tuckerman (Crudup and Gerwig were both in 20th Century Women). Peter Sarsgaard (last in Blue Jasmine) is a dashing Robert Kennedy and John Hurt (most recently in Snowpiercer) a thoughtful priest. Oh no! Hurt died yesterday, the day we saw it, just after his 77th birthday, of pancreatic cancer. I even turned to Jack and said how comforting it was to see him on screen, when I had no idea of his passing.

As a short person, I notice heights, and I know Portman is petite (5'3", according to imdb), dwarfed at times by John Carroll Lynch (first came to my attention in 73 episodes of The Drew Carey Show (1997-2004) but he has over 100 other credits, including Gran Torino, Shutter Island, Crazy, Stupid, Love. and two episodes of House of Lies, plus he's in the movie I'll be writing about next) who, at 6'3", is close to Lyndon Johnson's 6'4" and has LBJ's glowering expression down pat in one scene. Danish actor Caspar Phillipson (new to me) doesn't have many lines but his face looks a lot like JFK's. When he and Portman dance together, his height of 5'8" works with hers, just as the real Jackie's 5'7" worked with her husband's 6'0".

I thought I had heard of Chilean director Pablo Larraín, perhaps for his 2012 Foreign Film nominee No, but I didn't see it. I must have seen the trailer. And he has another movie coming out soon in the heartland (we hope), about Pablo Neruda. With the original screenplay by Noah Oppenheim (co-wrote two others before this, and has senior-produced 643 episodes of the Today show), and the fingerprints of producer Darren Aronofsky (he didn't produce Black Swan, which he directed, but did produce The Wrestler, and Noah, which he directed, and The Fighter, which he didn't, among others) all over it, this movie immerses us in the trauma, the responsibility, and the sense of duty so important to this first lady, and there are quite a few poignant lines I hope to remember. Apparently Aronofsky was originally slated to direct it and his ex-fiancée/baby mama Rachel Weisz to play the lead.

The screenplay was on the 2010 Black List (best unproduced screenplays of the year). I usually mention this fact about movies when I write about them. Here's their website.

Another of the movie's three Oscar nominations went to costume designer Madeline Fontaine, and she was also nominated for this by her peers in the Costume Designers Guild. Some of her work that I've appreciated are Babel (1999), Amélie (2001), and Micmacs. Mention must be made of the excellent production design team, headed by Jean Rabasse (Paris 36 and more).

You will notice when you see the movie that it is not in the usual modern 16:9 aspect ratio (our new televisions and movies are like this) but a narrower, more old-fashioned super 16mm format. So don't worry if you think you're missing the sides of the picture. Cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (no relation to the costume designer, he also masterfully shot What Just Happened, A Prophet, Rust and Bone, Captain Fantastic, and Elle, to name a few) used new cameras in the old ratio and an old camera that Larraín had from shooting No in 2012.

The final Oscar nomination went to another woman, composer Mica Levi, for her second soundtrack (the first was Under the Skin) and I have been streaming the eerie score from this link. Under her professional name Micachu she has released four albums besides those soundtracks. Included in the movie are clips from Richard Burton singing the original score to the 1960 musical Camelot, which I believe I saw on Broadway when I was very young. My family definitely played the record in our living room because I know the songs by heart.

With all of its press (there are many more nominations and my list is up to date), this movie's Rotten Tomatoes averages of 89% critics and 70% audiences don't really matter. Just see it, unless you have just lost a spouse.