I found this watchable, as I am interested in anything to do with Jack and Jackie Kennedy, but it was also very cliched. It was as if every anecdote about the Kennedys had been translated into a line of dialogue; an abbreviated approach to a film that doesn't work, as people don't sit there and talk about their lives like that ("And your dad said 'Ich bin ein Berliner', which means 'I'm a jelly donut'! He really did!' ")
Some of the casting worked, some didn't. Joanne Whalley looked the part on a basic level (brown hair and eyes), but Blair Brown in 'Kennedy' was more convincing. And Whalley's interpretation of Jackie grated on my nerves. She came across as too noble, and without faults of her own; constantly being emotionally rebuffed by the men in her life. I know this film was about Jackie, but it didn't seem like an honest portrayal. The actors and actresses playing Joe and Rose Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and the adult Caroline were effective (whereas the child actors playing Caroline and John Jr. were insulting!)
I must admit, I was moved by Jack and Bobby's deaths, particularly the archive footage from the time. And Jackie telling her children about their father's death (did she, though? Wasn't it the nanny?), before rushing into the hall to let out her own grief, was a heartbreaking scene.
A few moments of 'dramatic licence' (from what I could gather after reading different accounts of events beforehand), and a very summarised life for Jackie, despite running to three hours, but not an out and out insult. It kept me involved throughout.
