REVIEW – Jackie sees Princess Padme Amidala having bad luck with boyfriends again.
Pablo Larrain’s first English language movie is an unorthodox and occasionally great biopic of Jackie Kennedy. I’m not even sure if biopic is really right. Dealing with the days following the assassination, the film uses flashback and forths to show a young woman in the grip of a national tragedy. Unsure what to do best, Jackie seeks solace in a priest, played with a warm brogue by John Hurt. On the other side of the fence is a probing journalist, played by Billy Cudrup, trying to break the facade. This close up of the personal side to a very public event shows the madness of fame. Jackie becomes someone who is trying to escape being simply the victim of a terrible tragedy. It allows her missteps even as she seeks desperately to preserve and burnish the myth of Camelot.
It’ll be hard to keep Portman out of the Oscar running. And who’d want to. The score by Micah Levi either gets on your tits or is brilliant.
