Chappaquiddick (2017)

Depicting Ted Kennedy's involvement in the fatal 1969 car accident that claims the life of a young campaign strategist, Mary Jo Kopechne.

Director:

John Curran

Writers:

Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan

Stars:

Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Clarke	...	Ted Kennedy
Kate Mara	...	Mary Jo Kopechne
Ed Helms	...	Joseph Gargan
Bruce Dern	...	Joseph Kennedy
Jim Gaffigan	...	Paul Markham
Olivia Thirlby	...	Rachel
Clancy Brown	...	Robert McNamara
Taylor Nichols	...	Ted Sorensen
John Fiore	...	Chief Arena
Gillian Mariner Gordon	...	Cricket (as Gillian Gordon)
Katie Henoch	...	Suzy (as Kate Henoch)
Lexie Roth	...	Nance
Angela Hope Smith	...	Maryellen
Vince Tycer	...	David Burke
Victor Warren	...	Stephen Smith

Storyline

The scandal and mysterious events surrounding the tragic drowning of a young woman, as Ted Kennedy drove his car off the infamous bridge, are revealed in the new movie starring Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy and Kate Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne. Not only did this event take the life of an aspiring political strategist and Kennedy insider, but it ultimately changed the course of presidential history forever. Through true accounts, documented in the inquest from the investigation in 1969, director John Curran and writers Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen, intimately expose the broad reach of political power, the influence of America's most celebrated family; and the vulnerability of Ted Kennedy, the youngest son, in the shadow of his family legacy.

---

Plot Keywords:

one word title | car | accident | police office | island | 

---

Taglines:

The Untold True Story

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, disturbing images, some strong language, and historical smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Sweden

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 April 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chappaquiddick

Filming Locations:

Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,765,854, 8 April 2018

Gross USA:

$17,395,520

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,986,671

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apex Entertainment, Chimney, DMG Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film originally premiered at the Gala Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017.

---

Goofs

The movie depicts the moon being full on the night of Kennedy's crash; in reality, the moon was full July 29, which meant that it would have been a waxing crescent on the night July 18.

---

Quotes

Joseph Kennedy: You'll never be great.

---

Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Tracy Morgan/Kate Mara/Chris Lane feat. Tori Kelly (2018)

---

Soundtracks

The Plains
Written & Performed by Garth Stevenson
Courtesy of Garth Stevenson Music

User Reviews

Appearance is everything

I don't see it about being great men, but about looking like them. So much of this is about the patriarchal power structure surrounding to protect the queen bee, then the act of watching them scramble and save the hive, not the death itself is its study. A sort of false alarm that exposes the mechanism. The way it cross cuts moon landing shows the purpose of 'greatness' as the consequence of story. As in idealism leads to outcome so the machine should be input with idealized humanity first before anything else. So if you look right, you are right. Now the fact of his reaction points to his flaw being human at all, in his expectation to be more than that which parallels the effect of his spot in the hierarchy of brothers; so his failing is failing where they succeed: you can say being superhuman ideals, I can say non-feeling psychopaths without a conscience as it demands, both mutual costs. "I'm not going to be President" clues us into his horrible selfishness his brothers had imparted on him--remember he is very much conscious and awake to them, and this is the films journey from being the one best suited to lead to earn being 'chosen': hence enduring lion of the senate is both a reward for his goodness to the others, and also an albatross around his neck. His outcome is both a punishment and reward at the same time. How we get there shows feelings seen as weakness--and the continual reactions of the insane father but then as well it's a mantra, an excuse to voice the dread he'd always known. We keep telling the screen with his complaints of being lesser than great, 'So what?' None of them were great to begin with. JFK was a moral nightmare with his affairs. Ed Helms as the moral arbiter, I'm not fully buying, rather could it not be said he's using the brother to get back at the family he doesn't belong? Then it's not not being great rather the trace of goodness separates them in Helm's crusade of feeling vs non-feeling. Then 'You will never be great' reads as 'You are the greatest of us.' (Its theme of consciousness is why his father is trapped inside.) Last is its great feat as the concept cinema with how we fill in the gaps; it's the same with the secretaries who come from his brothers campaigns. It's the same with the army of lawyers. These are small windows into massive powers in a way only theater can accomplish where imagination projects ourselves in the frame of its abstract mental landscape; and such empathy at the top of the pyramid is a frightening feat, especially how to manages to make the Kennedys seem like troubled underdogs (!?). I also liked its ominous musical tones feeling like The Terminator, associating it to Kennedy--Schwarzenneger (and Jason Clarke in Genisys) showing a different shade of how these embodiment of our ideals comes at a cost of the mechanization of the person. The consciousness alibi.