Rent Jackie (2016)

All glossy surface, no substance - just a slick exploitation flick. - Jackie review by PV

For a short movie, this feels long. Maybe because very little happens.

I can imagine the script conference for this when they said: "well, the story is that Kennedy gets shot and his wife was there, so we need to pad it all out for make a movie to exploit the rich seam of Kennedy interest out there and make money."

It's like those dire movies on Princess Diana's life - like this, they often seem to have French involvement for some reason.

A weird central role by Natalie Portman acting like one of the Stepford Wives (maybe Jackie was like that?). John Hurt pops up as a priest is what is maybe he last appearance.

This is really a slick exploitation flick. AND it would have been interesting to have information on screen at the end about what happened to various real-life characters (for example, I think the toddler JohnJo in this film died in a plane crash; Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 etc. Another Kennedy Senator was a Noraid IRA supporter).

But it passes the time, I suppose. Just don't expect much. 2 stars. Just...

Divisive maybe, but I loved it - Natalie Portman has never been better - Jackie review by JB

I feel this is a movie that will divide audiences - it's fragmentary, doesn't deliver a clear linear narrative but what it lacks in a straightforward approach to its subject matter, it gains by providing something that tries to be more rich and more beautiful. It's not a typical Oscar movie or traditional biopic. It depends on your sensibility and expectations of a biopic, so I'd recommend it to film fans who like coming at a story a little sideways, rather than those who want something more clear-cut and unchallenging. This is not a movie to unwind to!

The spine of the film is an interview of Jackie Kennedy conducted by a reporter, some months after the Kennedy Assassination, after Jackie has moved out of the White House. She is in control of the interview from the outset; self-editing, self-conscious but always imperious. The movie then flashes back and forward between the interview and several key moments in her life as First Lady - her 1961 'tour of the White House'; and the events immediately before, during and after JFK's assassination.

Natalie Portman portrays Jackie Kennedy as a woman who needs to play multiple roles - a mother, a wife, First Lady, a cultural icon and 'mourner in chief' and the fragmentory nature of the film allows a 360 degree view of all of this. Quite impressive, considering its c. 90-minute running time. I loved her! The supporting cast is great and varied (although mostly merely extended cameos - Jackie is in every scene, and dominates every moment). Shout out to the Mica Levi soundtrack - some may find it invasive, but it's on par with the music in films like There Will Be Blood (the music there is by the fabulous Jonny Greenwood) and Levi's work in Under the Skin. It adds a woozy, occasionally nightmarish, mood and is completely on par with the self-conscious nature of the storytelling.

Makes you wish someone would shoot you in the head. - Jackie review by RS

This movie is a very impressionistic portrait of Jackie Kennedy between the Dallas assassination and Kennedy's funeral, told in flashback whilst Jackie Kennedy talks to a writer. I was looking forward to the film due to the great reviews, but found it very slow and lacking any real plot. Although impressively shot, it suffers from very intrusive music, with sweeping strings semaphoring what you are supposed to feel. Natalie Portman's performance was very good, but although the film is only 95 minutes long, it felt much longer, and by the half-way point I was beginning to wish that someone would shoot me in the head.