My wife and I went to see Chappaquiddick last weekend. I have been traveling this week and haven't had time to bang out a review. It looks like this film may be around the theaters for a couple of more weeks, so I will go ahead and post my thoughts on this film in case anyone might be considering seeing it at the theater.
In 1969, the Kennedy dynasty was abruptly altered with the tragic death of a young campaign worker named Mary Jo Kapechne (Kate Mara). I was still pretty young and don't recall the event in real time. But it is an event that reverberated for quite a long time afterward. I seem to recall last hearing about the event during the Presidential campaign of 1980, which was the last presidential campaign for Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke). The youngest Kennedy attended a party at Chappaquiddick in honor of campaign workers, most of whom appeared to be women. Kennedy departed with Kopechne before midnight, driving into a pond where Kennedy managed to escape the submerged vehicle, but Kopechne was trapped. Kennedy did not report the event until the following morning.
What happened after the accident depends on perspective. There was an investigation afterward, which included contradicting statements, leaks and other eye-witness accounts. Chappaquiddick attempts to take these events and neatly present them in a feature-length film. It is unclear how much of this film is conjecture, how much embellished and how much of this film is based on documented facts. But it does not appear to play loose with truth. I can see why there were forces at work to keep this film from seeing the light of day. It is a compelling insight into the muck of politics and spin. I almost felt like I needed a shower afterwards.
Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan adapted this screenplay from the evidence available. They seemed to do a good job with the dialogue and pacing, but the film had a feeble heartbeat. It was decent, but the substance seemed a bit lacking at times. They did a good job of creating tension between Ted Kennedy and his father Joe (Bruce Dern) which almost makes Ted a sympathetic character. If not just pathetic. The pacing kept the film moving forward with a decent narrative arc and loose ends tied up with end notes on the screen. Although there were some unanswered questions that were probably left out for the sake of time and focus. It was a decent story.
I like Kate Mara. I would have liked to have seen more of her in this film, but that's not how the story happened. She was solid. I like Jason Clarke okay, he looked the part, but the accent bothered me. It's a tough accent to nail. And none of the actors really seemed to capture it. Other than the dialect, the acting was spot on. Bruce Dern was a son-of-a-bitch as the patriarch of the clan. Jim Gaffigan was good as the US Attorney and Ed Helms was interesting as Joey Gargan. John Fiore was a bit over-the-top as the local police chief. But overall, the casting mirrored the story. Good, but not exceptional.
Chappaquiddick received a rating of PG-13 from the MPAA. The film deals with a death which includes a bit of tension by way of flashback with Kopechne trapped in the car. The body is also shown later in the film. There was some language, alcohol consumption and smoking. None of the elements seemed excessive or gratuitous. Pretty tame stuff. The film has a run time of one hour, 46 minutes. Just right to keep the film from bogging down.
One final thought. I did like the look of the film. The pastels and earth tones gave the film a nice feel. I think this film had the potential to be a snoozer. The combination of pacing, casting and editing kept this film tight. I am thankful for that. It was interesting to see the sausage-making following this historic tragedy. The film didn't delve into any political messaging or partisan nonsense, which also kept it interesting. It appeared to make a conscious effort to "play it straight." As a historic event, I want to bump up my score a bit, but I'm inclined to go with a 7/10. It can wait for video, but I wouldn't have been disappointed had I actually paid to see it at the theater. (I used my MoviePass, so it was free).
Photos and trailer subject to copyright by Apex Entertainment.
