First off, I've often thought of the 3 political Kennedy brothers as the Corleone family. JFK was most like Michael, a bit ruthless but always able to cover it up behind a genuine persona. Bobby was most like Sonny, doing the heavy hitting and also perhaps the one with the most mistresses. And then there's Teddy, the true doppelganger for dumb schmuck Fredo.
The new movie "Chappaquiddick" reminds me of the Fredo connection and totally reinforces it in my mind. Jeez, Teddy Kennedy was a fucking idiot.
I guess you have to be over 45 and picked up a history book over that time to even know what the Chappaquiddick incident was. On the 1969 weekend when man was first landing on the moon, Teddy and all his sycophants were boozing it on an island near Edgartown, Massachusetts. They had a lot of the young girl campaign workers with them...wink, wink. Well, Teddy and one of those chicks, Mary Jo Kopechne, left early...wink, wink. Were they having an affair? It's not really clear. Allegedly, she was carrying his child. That was never proven, unless you read the National Enquirer.
Well, anyway, Teddy's in a liquor haze and drives their car off a lonely bridge. The car submerges. He gets out. She drowns. And then he spends the next nine hours trying to figure out his story and his future Presidential aspirations.
It's interesting to watch this film today in light of all the Trump nonsense with Stormy Daniels, Access Hollywood, etc.., Because as sordid as that is all supposed to be, none of it holds a candle to the Machiavellian machinations Teddy and his gaggle of advisers used to cover up the truth here. Not only are they sinister but some of the moments are downright hilarious. I mean, the audience I was with was laughing out loud along with me. Indeed, Teddy's wife makes a brief appearance and gets to utter one line of dialogue.
"Go fuck yourself, Teddy."
That single utterance is totally worth the price of admission.
Director John Curran was only nine years old when this all happened and the screenwriters weren't even born. And, like those behind the movie "Jackie," they manage to get all the authenticity right. If "Chappaquiddick" plays out a little clinically, that's not their fault. It is the ultimate vagueness of what really happened that plays against them. But still, my Google refreshment of my memory tells me that what is depicted here is pretty much close to the truth.
There are gaps, however. The actual status of their affair and Mary Jo's possible pregnancy are glossed over. Additionally, in any movie around the Kennedy family, the total absence of mother Rose was quite noticeable to me and several of my fellow audience members discussed just that on the way out.
Of course, we do get Bruce Dern as a drooling Joseph Kennedy, whose major appearance here is to croak out the word "alibi" and then slap his dim witted son.
One of the best things about this movie is the performance of Jason Clarke as Teddy. Whereas lesser actors would do this as an impersonation, Clarke lays off the exaggerated mannerisms and, as a result, provides a more genuine portrayal.
The now requisite historical update just before the end credits reminds all of the ultimate irony from this sinister crime. Ted Kennedy never left the Senate. As a matter of fact, the state of Massachusetts mysteriously kept reelecting this criminal until his bloated, boozed-up body finally quit in 2009.
Some people talk about the Kennedys being cursed. But the fact that this jerk kept his Senate job for another forty years, I would say this Kennedy was damn lucky.
I guess that's kind of anti-Fredo Corleone.
LEN'S RATING: Three stars.
Dinner last night: Ribeye steak and pan roasted tomatoes in balsamic jam.
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