Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: 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, Vince Tycer, Victor Warren, David De Beck, Barry Press, Matthew Lawler, Beth Petrou, Thomas Kee, Andria Blackman, Donald Watson, Walter Driscoll.

The lustre of the political dream of Camelot, the mythical vision that was endorsed by President Kennedy and held up as shining example of Post War American exuberance and energetic propaganda, didn’t end with the assassination of J.F.K in Dallas on that November afternoon, nor did it receive its last rites as the brilliant Bobby Kennedy suffered the same fate as he was on the verge on capturing the ’68 election and the White House. It could be argued vehemently though, that it suffered a knockout blow, that the candles that had framed the dream were put out one by one without so much of a whimper, thanks to the actions of the youngest of the Kennedy clan and a place on the east coast of America which forever haunt the golden family of America.

Chappaquiddick, the place where a dynasty found a scandal it could not survive, a moment written into the history books which saw Edward Kennedy, a renowned orator, a tremendous politician and one who held his country and his Presidents to account, lose sight of what was right, and instead allowed what we now acknowledge as downright spin as he sought to find a way to limit the damage caused by the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

Chappaquiddick is not a reinvestigation, there is no sense of a newly found smoking gun pointing the way to a greater conspiracy, it also isn’t a focal point on the wider sense of America in the 1960s which other films have made great store on when discussing the Kennedy clan. It is though, a straight read through of the events, as far as the truth as it is known, which led to yet another tragedy to befall the family, and those around them.

There will be those that will argue that such a film should not have been made, however, and no matter your thoughts on the Kennedy family as a whole, such a moment in history needs to be examined, it is was on that fateful moment of deliberation that the American landscape could be said to have changed, if John had not be slain, if Bobby had not had his life taken from him, then Edward might not have had the same pressure put upon him to succeed. No doubt he would have ended up in ’76 as President, America likes cohesion as much as it loves strength, and what family has dominated the American psyche since the end of the war like the Kennedys?

What the film shows perfectly is how the American political machine turns, and in Jason Clarke’s portrayal of Ted Kennedy the film lover and the historian are both satisfied; not only is the film an exceptional understanding of how ego and pride work, it also shows, with great humility in Jason Clarke, how one man can be defined by his actions, how one mistake, not matter the size, will always be spoken of before any accomplishments and good that person may have done.

A brilliant film shrouded in sadness, in the observation of denial and acceptance and yet one that also finds a subtle way to fill the viewer with a single question, one that will forever haunt the memory of Ted Kennedy, was the version of events, that split second as his car took the bend, was it true?

Insightful, powerful, excellent, Chappaquiddick is the film that will forever frame the life of one of the great figures of American politics, Ted Kennedy.

Ian D. Hall