Review of Chappaquiddick (2018) by Sadiep — 10 Apr 2018

'Chappaquiddick is based on the true story of the accident involving Senator Ted Kennedy & Mary Jo Kopechne, who drowned while Kennedy left the scene unharmed. More so, it is about power, influence, and how the political train drives perception, reality and a politicians career. We see the events unfolding day to day and watch Kennedy's emotions/actions & see how much his father's influence has driven that family. At times it feels like Kennedy wanted to do the right thing, but power trumped his decisions and sadly he surrendered to the cover-up as advised by all of the 'suits' Daddy Joe brought in to save him. One line Ted said was, "we'll tell the truth, or at least how we see it!".

I'm glad they made sure not to trash Mary Jo's reputation & noted that there had been no affair. One touching moment was when Kennedy called Mary Jo's parents and we saw some deep anguish from him.

Bottom line - he basically got away with murder. Confession & sentence was a joke and it just reiterated nothing has changed, the same crap still goes on today. Politics suck and powerful people get away with things they shouldn't, cover-ups run the machine. How Kennedy lasted so long as a Senator I'll never understand - people are fickle. James Clarke did a good job as Kennedy, created his look, quirks & questionable character well. Casting Jim Galligan as the Attorney General was off for me - I kept expecting him to start cracking jokes. Rest of the cast was good, period wardrobe, cars, music, etc. also good. I am interested in reading more about the different men involved in this case.

I hated the story, but felt the movie was done well.