Pablo Larraín's Jackie is a film about America that could only have been made by a non-American. For all our bluster about being a democracy, Larraín understands that every four years we elect our royalty. And few members of our royalty were as beloved as the Kennedy's. Larraín delights in the pomp and formality of the tiniest details of the presidency, everything from the outfits to the titles to the Marines who line the hallways leading to the room where JFK had his autopsy. Jackie is an absolutely devastating portrait of grief, resilience, and the search for meaning in a period of loss. It's a triumph of historical reconstruction, costuming, and set design. Natalie Portman is nothing short of a revelation as the titular character: she assumes the historical figures verbally tics as astonishingly as Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Bennett Miller's Capote. One can only watch in awe. It took me awhile to figure out what she was doing opposite Theodore H. White (Billy Crudup) in their interview scenes. That's when I figured it out: she desperately wanted White to say the wrong thing so she could jump on him and devour him, thereby giving her some emotional relief. Incredibly, White never took the bait.
9/10
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