Chappaquiddick 2018

     This film is about the scandal and the mysterious events surrounding the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne on July 18, 1969.  Ted Kennedy had been at a small party to honor the team that had worked politically with the Kennedy’s, especially the late Robert Kennedy.  Mary Jo was an aspiring political strategist and Kennedy insider.  Ted and Mary Jo left the party and Ted missed the turn to the ferry.  Instead, they mistakenly headed to the Chappaquiddick Bridge.  This Bridge has no guardrail and his car went over the side into the water.  Ted was able to escape from the car and he returned to the scene with Paul Markham and his cousin Joseph Gargan to find Mary Jo and save her.

     Only Ted Kennedy knows what happened that night and he says he doesn’t remember how he got out of the car?  Mary Jo could have been saved if he had reported the accident immediately.  Instead he waited about ten hours to contact authorities?  He eventually plead guilty for leaving the scene of an accident.  Kennedy may have been able to become President of the United States but this event cast doubts about him?  3* (This movie is OK)

106 min, Drama directed by John Curran with Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Bruce Dern, Jim Gaffigan, Olivia Thirlby, Clancy Brown, Taylor Nichols, John Fiore, Gillian Mariner Gordon, Katie Henoch, Lexie Roth, Angela Hope Smith.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 81% critic 70% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 260 reviews, Metacritic 67 out of 100 with 33 critics 7.4 out of 10 with 52 reviews, Washington Post 3* out of 4*, Common Sense #* out of 5*, Age 14+,1* positive, role models drinking, drugs, smoking, 3* violence, 4* language.

Special Note:  Filmed in Ipswitch, Rowley and Newburyport, Massachusetts.  It’s never been explained how Ted Kennedy got out of the car despite many different investigators and investigations?  Another inconsistency is how Kennedy returned to the mainland?  He said he swam 500 feet but he was actually rowed back by Markham and Gargan as shown in this film.  The car is a late model Oldsmobile (1967 Delmont 88) and it was partially submerged with the wheels out of the water and the top crushed into the sand.  The height of the water must have been not much more than 4 feet.  Kennedy stated that Markham and Gargan dived at risk to their lives?  It would really be wading and stooping?  The press moved on to the news of Apollo 11 space mission landing on the moon two days later.