Jackie (15A) - Movie Review

It was fantastic to see the great John Hurt performing in this movie in a role which although wasn’t major was very pivotal to the story of widow Jackie Kennedy in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination.
Sadly John Hurt died last weekend of a long illness, at the same time his movie, ‘Jackie’ is on international release.  It’s now all the more poignant watching Hurt as the priest leading Jackie to a time of acceptance in her new life, writes David Flynn.
‘Jackie’ portrays the eight days behind the scenes of the life of the young widow, following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.  It was a time when she had to make serious decisions about the US President’s funeral, and also she had to look to her future with her children.
The movie shows an amazing recreation of the 1960s White House, including the officialdom and the personnel, through the eyes of Jackie.   The pain of the young widow and how she managed to triumph over the terrible adversity of having been beside her husband when he was shot is very vividly shown, thanks to the talented actress, Natalie Portman.
A CBS tv broadcast of Jackie in happier days opening the White House to the cameras is cleverly mingled in with this new movie..
The production of ‘Jackie’ is amazing from the outdoor scenes, shown with great cinematography, to private scenes in Jackie’s bedroom,
The acting of Nathalie Portman is deserving of the Oscar, although she has huge competition from Emma Stone of ‘La La Land’.
The torn brother in law, Bobby Kennedy is played with raw emotion by Peter Sarsgaard.  However it’s a pity more of the Kennedys or Jackie’s family, the Bouviers weren’t shown supporting her or the children.  The concentration of Jackie’s grief in the movie was built around Bobby, and the White House officials.
Production and set design deserve great accolades, from the creation of the 1963 Oval office, to Jackie’s rooms at the White House.
Billy Crudup shows great facial emotion as the journalist that interviews Jackie for Life magazine, some months after the funeral
For those of us who had heard of King Arthur’s ‘Camelot’ in connection with JFK and Jackie, this movie reveals it was Jackie who came up with the well-known term about the thousand days of JFK
The movie successfully interspersed real old footage with new footage of the JFK trip to Dallas, and the eventual funeral in Arlington Cemetery.
Also while there have been many film versions of the Jackie Kennedy story, this movie shows  the most graphic interpretation of the assassination, with blood and all.
The private time of the Kennedy widow is open to all, through ‘Jackie’ and the audience will feel they are intruding on this most private time.