I’ve watched probably way too many things on JFK. I feel like I know alot about the historical event, more than I probably need to know. The film Jackie somehow taught me something new, something fresh. It’s very rare that you go into a film knowing what has happened only to then realise “well I probably know nothing at all”. This is what happened to me whilst watching Jackie. Jackie is a film that takes a historical moment you know and instead of telling you how it happened it changes from the norm and tells you what happened afterwards. Much like if say Natalie Portman’s Padme survived in Revenge of the Sith and you got to watch her deal with all the crazy stupid stuff Anakin just did, mentioning Padme because my Star Wars brain couldn’t stop thinking I was watching the film Padme and not the film Jackie. It’s barely a distraction though because Portman’s acting is outstanding. You leave the cinema thinking about how this poor woman had to go through this whole ordeal and how she really just wanted to be at peace with the whole situation. The film is surreal, chilling and gets under your skin at times and that’s what makes it so enjoyable. The small little ideas that could’ve, most likely were, going through the real Jackie Kennedy’s mind are reveal to you and they’re shocking yet so true that you can’t help but feel it’s truly Jackie herself you’re watching. At the same time you almost worry about what is going to happen to her and if she’ll ever be happy again, as if she were character and not someone you can simply google. I’m not one to enjoy a more slow film but Jackie was a surprise to me as it was short yet it was packed filled with great moments and I found myself afterwards wanting to tell my girlfriend straight away all the small cool/surprising details. I did some research and it looks like the makers of the film did a lot of work in making the film as accurate as possible, so at least you can go into the film knowing it’s probably as accurate as it can get. Jackie is a greatly enjoyable film and a film that I would surprisingly watch again despite now knowing everything that happens. I would watch it again because it would be great to go into the film knowing everything and simply sit back to just watch the characters’ emotions and heartache from the aftermath of the huge historical moment that is the assassination of JFK.
Expectation Level: Moderate
Expectation Achieved: Expected good acting and got fantastic acting and an interesting film aswell.
Score: 4/5 – Jackie is a great film and the acting is even better. It’s a must see if you’re into documentaries like the ones about the assassination of JFK. The film is a great way to show a fresh perspective on a historical event that we only usually hear about in the same way every time in every similar documentary.
You’ll like this film if you like most US Political Biopics and if you liked Jackie and want to watch something new then I greatly recommend the Netflix series The Crown.