(1997) A truly bizarre (comedies don't end this way) film from director Mark Waters, who adapted Wendy MacLeod's stage play to the screen. Jackie-O (Parker Posey) is insane; everyone else in her family is just crazy.

At an Ides of March party she went in a pink Chanel suit with pillbox hat and blood (actually ketchup with macaroni for brains) on her dress. In March 1971 her twin brother Marty (Josh Hamilton) followed her around with a camera, recording her giving a tour of their home in McLean, Virginia, in imitation of Jackie Kennedy's guided tour of the White House.

Later she shot Marty, wounding him in the gut, when he announced he was leaving for New York; she was sent to a mental hospital. At Thanksgiving, six months after her release, with a hurricane approaching, Marty returns home with a Donut King waitress, Lesly (Tori Spelling), his fiancée.

Mrs Pascal (Genevieve Bujold), fearful of what "an anti-Jackie" may do to her daughter's fragile mental state, tells Marty that after the storm he must go away with his girl; in the meantime she says she'll "baste the turkey and hide the kitchen knives."

The youngest sibling, wearing a Kennedy jacket, Anthony (Freddie Prinze Jr), a college dropout, behaving awkward and goofy ("we've never had a guest before"), shows Lesly her room. Demonstrating her sophistication and accomplishment, Jackie-O asks Lesly about sex while describing Marty's former girlfriend (actually a woman). To Anthony she suggests that Lesly may be just the girl for him.

In a fit of pique Jackie-O bursts out that when a girl has her "heart set on a certain thing," which she's denied, it's enough to drive her insane. Lesly retorts: "I don't think you're insane; I think you're just spoiled."

The storm knocks out the electricity, leaving the turkey undone. Mrs Pascal ("People raise cattle. Children just happen") departs for her bedroom: mother's don't spy; they simply pay close attention.

In the dark with candles, Jackie-O tells Anthony a dark secret, which incites moral outrage in his heart; he goes upstairs to where Lesly's in bed, asking her naïve but impertinent questions, such as when she lost her virginity. Infatuated with Lesly, Anthony declares that he will never love anyone else, rather preferring the sand of the desert: "You never go hungry in the desert because of the sand which is there." Later Anthony will say to Marty: "If you really cared for her, you wouldn't have brought her here."

Downstairs Jackie-O appeals to Marty: "Let's be human beings." He replies: "You don't know how." She puts on her pink costume in which to re-enact JFK's assassination with Marty. That was the fatal day their father departed from them.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .