Chappaquiddick

Chappaquiddick

Starring Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan

Directed by John Curran

The Story:
On Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, in 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) has an automobile accident that results in the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara).  He doesn't call the police until ten hours after the incident happens, and worries more about his budding political career than Mary Jo's death.  Even though it seems his bid for President is over, he still holds out hope that he can still maintain a strong career in politics and keep the Kennedy name alive.

The Synopsis:
The Kennedys were the first royal political family in America, but that hardly makes them royalty.  They've been shrouded in affairs, misdeeds, and every other type of negativity, and while the presidential life of John F. Kennedy Jr. was called Camelot, it was nowhere near as regal as King Arthur's court.  After Joe II was killed in World War II, then both JFK and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, it was up to the lone surviving brother, Ted, to maintain the Kennedy legacy.  Already a powerful Senator, he had high hopes of one day following in John's footsteps and becoming President - but the events at Chappaquiddick squashed any presidential hopes for the young upstart.

Director John Curran decides to take the direct, facts-only route in telling the story of the tragic death of Mary Jo Kopechne, not even hinting at a possible affair between the young staffer and Kennedy.  There's no need for salacious scandals or hearsay in a film like this - it's purely a Wikipedia-based film that only focuses on the facts at hand that are written in history in black and white.

After Ted drives his car into the pond, resulting in the car flipping, he stumbles out and leaves Mary Jo behind, and even at the behest of his lawyer relative Joe Gargan, he doesn't phone in the accident.  Instead, the police discover the car and the body, leaving Ted to play catch-up as he tries to cover up the important aspects of the event (such as him being the driver) as he tries to cover his own hide - not giving a care at all about Mary Jo.

The film doesn't depict the Lion of the Senate in any positive light, and showcases how corruption, cover-up, and coercion have haunted the political world since the onset.  Believing himself to be above the law, Ted sets out to create a whole new story behind what happened in order to keep himself in the Senate and hopefully one day the White House.  It's clear that his aspirations are all he cares about, and sets out to keep that in a series of bumbling acts that only makes him look more and more guilty.

Yet, not only did he maintain a firm hold in the Senate, he became the fourth-longest serving member there.  If this had happened today, he would've been ousted days after the event was revealed, but Ted was aided by several aspects that helped conceal the event.

The first is the fact that it happened coincidentally at the same time as when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.  For such an unprecedented event, it covered the headlines and was the focus of the news events for weeks, keeping the events of Chappaquiddick in the dark.  Second, back then there was only the three major networks and no Internet, so there was no 24-hour news cycles or a barrage of online columns that could've exposed the event more.  Finally, he was surrounded by the best cover-up artists in the business who worked day and night to convince the police - and most importantly the people - behind Ted's innocence.  Correlate the three together and you get a major news story that no one's ever heard of.

It's important to tell this story so future generations can understand the seedy underbelly of politics, and it was delivered with great performances by Jason Clarke and Kate Mara - who was terribly underused as Mary Jo, only being on screen for a short amount of time but leaving a lasting impression.  Maybe someday they'll make a film having her at the center, but I won't hold my breath.  Clarke does admirably as Ted, carrying a Bostonian accent (despite him being Australian), and he portrays Ted as a man stuck in the shadow of his more famous brothers, while also living a life of privilege and self-indulgence.  Comedians Ed Helms and Jim Gaffigan also give surprisingly decent dramatic performances, but the film is also kind of stale - it's all substance, no salacious.  While that's great from a historical aspect, it also becomes easily forgettable and a bit drab.

The Summary:
Touching on an important event in political history, "Chappaquiddick" decides to tell the story straight and not embellish or add any seedy events, resulting in a mostly accurate portrayal but also one that's easily forgettable due to its rigidness.

The Score: B