Katie Holmes comes into her own

HOLMES. Great range and surprising insight.

Ever since she married the Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes has been content to stay under the looming penumbra of his stellar sheen – and shadow. But, her recent portrayal of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy in the miniseries, “The Kennedys,” has finally given her the unique thespic showcase her talent deserves – with or without the presence or existence of her stellar hubby (and Svengali?).

This is by no means the first time that Jackie has been played onscreen, but Holmes’ “take” on the former US First Lady and all-around socio-cultural icon is arguably the best fit of all.

Not only does she look amazingly like the young Jackie, but the actress also insightfully “knows” and embodies her later in the day, when the pressures of her all too brief “reign” at the White House with JFK betrayed the less than noble side of their Camelot.

Perfectionist

Ever the punctilious perfectionist, Jackie was bent on ending up, not just as the US’ loveliest First Lady, but also its very best. That’s why she pushed herself to the limit, filling her days and nights with one appointment after another, past the point of exhaustion.

She sensed that her stay at the White House would be over before she knew it, so she was determined to make good use of every opportunity to educate, motivate and inspire “her” people. So, to keep her energy up, she secretly took stimulants –until her worried husband insisted that she apply the brakes on her ardor and ambition.

All of these potentially contradictory facets to Jackie’s “secret” persona, Holmes vivified with great range and surprising insight. For too long have we dismissed her as her more famous husband’s avid and frisky acolyte and pom-pom girl –and, we’re both delighted and amazed to discover, by way of her “breakthrough” portrayal, that we’ve been patronizing her with faint praise.

As her “interpretation” of Jackie in her “darker” days and nights clearly affirms, Katie is very much her own person as an artist – and, it’s Tom who should be genuflecting to her, and holding her kikay kit.

Now that Katie has finally broken out of the restricting box of her husband’s bigger and more “KSP” celebrity, the sky’s the limit for her continuing development as an artist, with or without “Master” Cruise’s “permission.”

The possibilities for future roles are as exciting as they are potentially discombobulating. Will Cruise, for instance, agree to make a movie with his much younger and “underestimated” geisha of a wife – in which their roles are equal in terms of focus, length, complexity and challenge?

And, after the smoke clears on that production, whose will be the thespic carcass that will have to be scraped off the studio floor, like road kill? We can hardly wait.