TORONTO – This is truly a surprise. When Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie” was selected for the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, but was not invited to Telluride it raised eyebrows. Not only was the “No” director already going to be honored along with a screening of his Cannes breakout and potential Foreign Language nominee “Neruda” but “Jackie” is a noteworthy film. It centers on the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination on first lady Jackie Kennedy (played by Natalie Portman), a quintessential American story and the fact it wasn’t playing at the only American festival of the three was just a little too odd. The reviews from Venice have flipped that narrative on its head.
As The Playlist’s own Jessica Kiang noted in her review:
“This is a portrait of a famously tragic figure delivered without a lick of condescension or mawkishness, which is possible because Larraín is interested in Jackie not in the context of the enormous historical events that surround and often dwarf her in our collective minds, but as a human being, from the inside out, whose life experience when viewed from within encompassed those events, but was bigger than them. He and Portman funnel agency, wit and flashes of hard-won wisdom into the portrayal throughout, and it cumulatively builds to a film that, for all the layers of performativity and artificiality, is quite devastatingly human.”
All the reactions so far it’s clear “Jackie” isn’t a conventional biopic or even a straight out traditional prestige play. However, the raves over Portman’s performance and its subject matter have turned into a major acquisition player and — surprise — there are some distributors who could absolutely fit it into their current awards season plans. Who is willing to jump into the fray?
Fox Searchlight decided to focus solely on “Birth of A Nation” months ago, but has Oscar winning experience with a last minute Portman pickup after it acquired “Black Swan” in 2010. (There is also a report Searchlight has first dibs on it, but I haven’t been able to verify this.) A24 has a number of players such as the increasingly buzzworthy “Moonlight” and “20th Century Women” (for those asking “American Honey” is likely just a Spirits play). Annette Bening is a Best Actress contender for ‘Women,’ but is it really that uncommon for studios to have two potential nominees in a major acting category in one season? Not really. The Weinstein Company does it practically every year. Moreover, this season Paramount also has Amy Adams (“Arrival”), Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”) and, potentially, Marion Cotillard (“Allied”) going up against each other. It’s not as big a deterrent as you might think.
READ MORE: ‘Planetarium’ Starring Natalie Portman Is Mystifying, Not Mysterious [Venice Review]
CBS Films, which has a bubbling contender in “Hell or High Water,” is another good fit as is Bleecker Street that had never got enough credit for its “Trumbo” success last season. In theory The Weinstein Company could jump in, but their rumored cash flow issues make it seem unlikely. And, of course, you can never take Sony Classics out of the mix. The venerable mini-major has had great success with last minute fall acquisitions most recently with Julianne Moore and “Still Alice” two years ago.
Granted, most of the key decision makers have not seen “Jackie” yet and that will make its world premiere Sunday night at the Winter Garden Theater quite the scene. If it lives up to the Venice hype don’t be surprised to see an acquisition release Monday morning. (Note: At this point, your fearless pundit may not get to screen “Jackie” until next Wednesday).
In the meantime, check out the first full clip from Larrain’s latest embedded in this post. Does Portman’s work here scream major Best Actress contender or not? Share your thoughts below.
