April 6, 2018, - 12:00 pm
Chappaquiddick Long Overdue: Finally Hollywood Dares to Expose the Kennedys
I am away in observance of the last two days of Passover, but I’ve prepared this review of Chappaquiddick (Rated PG-13), in theaters today, in advance. G-d bless Byron Allen, Entertainment Studios CEO and executive producer of this movie.
Allen says he was under tremendous pressure not to put out this more-truthful-than-ever account of Ted Kennedy’s disgusting and perhaps murderous behavior after he drove Mary Jo Kopechne off a Massachusetts bridge and allowed her to drown to death. But Allen–whom you may remember as one of the hosts of the ;ate ’70s and early ’80s “Real People” show–refused to succumb. And the movie is now out.
A caveat: while the movie is good and very critical of Ted Kennedy, it’s not as critical as I thought it would be. Still, it’s tough enough. Aussie Jason Clarke–who bears a tremendous resemblance to the swimmer Ted and who nails the Kennedy New England patrician accent–is excellent here as our driving champ.
Missing is more than a couple of quick hints of a possible romantic affair between the late Senator and Ms. Kopechne, a former RFK campaign worker. Also not mentioned are the many stories that Kopechne may have been pregnant with Ted Kennedy’s child–the reason why Kennedy may have deliberately (not accidentally) driven off that bridge and may have actually drowned her, not merely failing to save her. Back in the late ’80s, while working my summers on Capitol Hill in Washington, I met the late Leo Damore, author of Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-up
Get Yours . . .
The movie, however, hits all the points that were mostly covered up by the media. It shows that Kennedy waited more than 10 hours to alert the police about the accident, assuring that Kopechne was certainly beyond dead at that point. It shows him watching animation on TV, taking a bath, assembling his team of the usual Kennedy propaganda suspects, including Ted Sorensen, who wrote Ted Kennedy’s TV speech “explaining” what happened. The movie acutely shows that Kennedy was all about and only about me, me, me, me, me and me. A woman was dead because he was drinking and driving (he lied about that, too, claiming he didn’t ingest alcohol that night), and he didn’t give that dead woman–his victim–another thought. Instead, the uninjured Teddy was searching out a phony neck brace, so he could portray himself as “the real victim” (much as Muslims have for nearly two decades portrayed themselves as “the real victims” of 9/11).
All he was thinking about was his political career–saving his Senate seat and worrying about whether he could still be President. There was talk of Kennedy possibly resigning from the U.S. Senate, but as the movie shows, that was all for show and never in the cards. Kennedy was–and remained to his death–a selfish, bloviating, philandering, drunken bastard who cared about nobody but himself and showed little sympathy or caring for the parents whose only child he possibly murdered. Through it all, Kennedy is shown dumping on his devoted cousin, Joe Gargan, who tries to get him to do the right thing and at least show some thought for his victim, Kopechne. He was unsuccessful in that endeavor, and has been estranged from the Kennedy clan ever since.
At the end, when Kennedy is delivering his televised cover-up address about “what happened” to the people of Massachusetts and the nation, the movie shows him repeatedly diving back into the water and trying to open the doors of the car in order to save Kopechne. Does anybody believe the hyper-coddled Kennedy swimming and driving expert actually did this? Come on . . . . But the movie does try to “give his side” at the end (though it’s thankfully very brief).
Still, as I noted, I think it’s tough enough on that beached Kennedy whale. And we all get the picture. It even shows Kennedy mindlessly and insensitively flying a kite, not long after he informs the police. And it shows how the Edgartown police–all in bed, as was everybody, with the hallowed Kennedys–didn’t do much of an “investigation” into the incident and bought the hole-filled sieve of Kennedy’s story hook, line, and sinker. The man got away with murder, even if the movie doesn’t depict it as deliberate. Kennedy was supposed to be driving Kopechne back to her motel but instead of turning left on the road to her accommodations, he took a hard, quick right down an unlit dirt road toward a secluded beach. The movie doesn’t tell you that, really. But it tells you enough.
The movie’s end also provides us with several comments from Massachusetts residents (I don’t know if this is real footage, though it appears to be), with most of them saying they bought Teddy’s “explanation” and would vote for him. Morons.
*** Related: Read My “Obituary” for Dear Old Ted< ***
That this movie finally came out–and that a number of A- list and B+ list actors are in it (Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Bruce Dern, Jim Gaffigan), is a tremendous accomplishment. For decades and until very recently, nobody in Hollywood or other media platforms would dare touch the Kennedys. And still, it takes a smaller, more independent, relatively new studio to release it. (Remember when Geraldo Rivera–then a serious journalist, before he became a whackjob Palestinian propagandist and moronic, left-wing plastic surgery victim–was fired from ABC News for daring to do a piece on Robert Kennedy’s affairs and other illicit behavior?)
Byron Allen told Variety:
Unfortunately, there are some very powerful people who tried to put pressure on me not to release this movie. They went out of their way to try and influence me in a negative way. I made it very clear that I’m not about the right, I’m not about the left. I’m about the truth.
Allen called Kopechne
“one of the original #MeToo victims” and said it was her time to receive justice and the truth.
Right on. It’s too bad her long grieving parents didn’t live to see this movie.
Joseph, Gwen, and Mary Jo Kopechne, Rest In Peace.
#ThemToo.
THREE-AND-A-HALF REAGANS
Watch the trailer . . .
Tags: Chappaquiddick, Chappaquiddick movie, Chappaquiddick movie review, Chappaquiddick review, Mary Jo Kopechne, Mary Joe Kopechne movie, Ted Kennedy, Ted Kennedy movie
Years ago I met one of the Investigators in the Chappaquiddick Case. He said there was more evidence as to the guilt of Ted Kennedy in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne than was in the media at the time or that was made part of the public record. That the facts indicated that Kennedy was guilty of more than negligence in the death of Kopechne. He was threatened with the loss of his professional position if he ever revealed the additional facts that he knew.
PaulaMalka on April 6, 2018 at 3:49 pm