“Chappaquiddick” #ThisReallyHappened…No, Actually…#ItReallyDidnt

The film “Chappaquiddick” tells a damning lie. But “Chappaquiddick Speaks” tells an even more damning truth.

Chappaquiddick

Last year’s film “Chappaquiddick” consumed my life for months, not because it was a great film (it’s good but not great), but because the film promised, after decades of rumors to reveal the truth about how a young woman’s death ended a rich and powerful man’s drive to become President.

Australian Jason Clarke (“Zero Dark Thirty” & “Everest”) plays a smarmy, but understated Edward Kennedy. Kate Mara (“House of Cards” & “The Martian”) gives us an empty Mary Jo Kopechne, (a mystery in death as she was in life). Ed Helms plays Joe Gargan, the adopted Kennedy brother (with a conscience the real ones lacked). Bruce Dern strains with Joe Kennedy Sr.’s stroke-trapped energy. Jim Gaffigan plays the mostly passive (and previously anonymous) Paul Markham, a JFK-appointed Federal Attorney for the state of Massachusetts.