Ted Kennedy biographer Neal Gabler, whining in The New York Times on Friday, accused Chappaquiddick of “outright character assassination.” He insinuates that the critically-acclaimed film dishonestly portrays the night Kennedy killed a young campaign secretary by drunkenly driving her off a bridge and leaving her to drown, but Gabler fails to point to any historical inconsistencies other than the amount Bruce Dern’s Joseph Kennedy Sr. should have slurred his speech. The charge rings hollow, as Ted Kennedy’s character committed suicide long ago, no assassination necessary.
Everything about Chappaquiddick — writing, acting, directing, casting, etc. — is quite good. Most importantly, the film accurately depicts the events that took place the night of July 18, 1969. Ted Kennedy, then the senior senator from Massachusetts, invited a group of six single, female campaign secretaries to join him and five married, male friends for a party at a cottage on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha’s Vineyard. At 11:15 p.m., Kennedy drunkenly took Mary Jo Kopochne, who left her purse and hotel key at the cottage, for a late night drive in his mother’s car. He drove off the bridge, swam to safety, and left Kopechne to drown. Kennedy then walked past four houses without alerting any neighbors to the accident, returned to the cottage, told his cousin and friend what had happened, and eventually returned to his hotel room in Edgartown.
Throughout the night and early next morning, Kennedy attempted to establish an alibi and made several phone calls to friends for advice on how best to cover it all up. He lied in official testimony, temporarily donned an obviously unnecessary neck brace, and played the victim. At no point before police discovered the submerged car and Kopechne’s body did Kennedy report the crash to authorities.
1 comment:
My wife wanted to see the movie so we went.I think it was historically spot on,but the previews made it look like an exciting flick.Accuracy to me is first and foremost,so I loved it.My wife did not like it because Hollywood did not interject the typical non accurate story line to make it sexy and exciting.I can see why there was a fight over it's release.I would love to see more movies that tell it like it is/was.
Post a Comment