In My Brothers’ Shadows: A Review of the Film Chappaquiddick

Review of John Curran’s Chappaquiddick, written by Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan, produced by Apex Entertainment and distributed by Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, running time 101 minutes, 2017. Released on DVD July 10, 2018.

Almost 55 years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, the public’s fascination with the Kennedy family and the legacy of Camelot continues. In September 2017 the film Chappaquiddick premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and this past April 2018 the film opened to a broad national release. Readers of this journal will remember the tragedy on Chappaquiddick Island, where on July 18, 1969, during a reunion with former staffers of Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 campaign, Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy left the party with Mary Jo Kopechne. Driving down a dark road, ostensibly to take Mary Jo to the ferry back to her motel in Edgartown, Ted loses control of the Oldsmobile he is driving, and the car overturns in Poucha Pond. Ted escapes the submerged vehicle, but Mary Jo does not. The film poignantly captures Mary Jo’s last horrific moments of life as she desperately lifts her mouth and nose into the last remaining air pockets in the car as the water rushes in.

Mary Jo Kopechne, played admirably by Kate Mara, was one of six “boiler room girls” attending the reunion party. Also present were Ted, his cousin Joe Gargan (played by Ed Helms), former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Paul Markham (played by Jim

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Gaffigan), and a few other friends of Senator Kennedy’s. According to Kennedy biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli (After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family 1968 to Present, 2012), all six women were single, while all but one of the men present were married. The term “boiler room girls” was apparently applied to the women by Robert Kennedy given their tireless backroom work during his 1968 campaign, displaying a fire in their bellies with regard to their support of Bobby and his social justice causes.

Naturally, the focus of the film is Ted Kennedy, played by Australian-born actor Jason Clarke. It was clear that Clark prepared well for his role as the Massachusetts senator, studying his television speeches and interviews, capturing his voice, accent, and cadences, even duplicating his physical mannerisms and walking style.

From the lens of the psychobiographer, the crux of Ted Kennedy’s psychological story can be anchored in part in Adlerian theory of sibling order in a dynastic family. His life question could be framed as: how do I distinguish myself, find my own identity, and gain my father’s love and approval in the shadow of three heroic older brothers?

The challenge of following in the courageous paths of Joseph, John, and Robert, and rising to the extraordinary expectations placed upon him is captured well by the depiction of Ted Kennedy in the film. In one powerful scene soon after the accident, Ted is at the Edgartown police station and talks by phone with his father, who is at the Hyannis Port Kennedy compound. At this point Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (played by Bruce Dern) is quite disabled after a paralyzing stroke and has trouble speaking. As Ted discloses the accident and the death of Mary Jo, his father is distraught and disappointed with Ted, as discerned by his grunts and groans over the telephone. As the phone conversation continues and becomes more heated, Ted shouts into the phone:

Joe was the courageous one,
Jack the charming one,
Bobby the brilliant one,
Where does that leave me?

Ted Kennedy lived in the long shadows of three older brothers; could he pick up the mantle? Would his father ever love him, be as proud of him as he was of his brothers? He wasn’t sure, and this anguish is captured well by Mr. Clarke in his portrayal of Ted

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Kennedy.

The film is a docudrama, so while based on a true story and capturing a fairly accurate amount of detail relative to the factual Chappaquiddick story, the writers and director do take dramatic license in converting the actual story into a cinematic drama. In keeping with actual events, the film depicts the senator’s gross negligence in failing to report the late night accident until the following morning, and even then, Joe Gargan and Paul Markham had to urge him to do so. It is also suggested in the film that Ms. Kopechne could have been saved had the accident been reported immediately and help summoned. The film also emphasizes the “cover up” mentality of men in that political generation generally, and more particularly, the men in the Jack and Bobby political network who now served Ted.

Ted Kennedy is portrayed as being ambivalent during the cover up, on one hand feeling deeply guilty about this tragic event and even considering resigning from the Senate. On the other hand, he participated in, and at times fueled, the whitewashing of his negligence in the hopes of saving his political career, and perhaps someday running for the presidency. Years later, in his memoir, Senator Kennedy acknowledged his culpability and shared that the Chappaquiddick tragedy “haunts me every day of my life” (Edward M. Kennedy, True Compass: A Memoir, 2009).

Understandably, this short film does not capture the depths of Ted’s inner psychology. The trauma of losing his three older brothers and his turn to alcohol for solace is only introduced in the film, yet these struggles would continue for a lifetime (see Patrick J. Kennedy and Stephen Fried, A Common Struggle, 2015).

After Chappaquiddick, Ted Kennedy continued in politics, challenging Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, which he soundly lost. However, in the ensuing years, Senator Kennedy appeared to find his moral compass and devoted the remainder of his professional life to political and human service, particularly around issues of health care. In many ways, then, he did continue to honor the Kennedy legacy.

Ultimately, this well-crafted film is a tribute to two very decent persons, Mary Jo Kopechne and Joe Gargan. However, it also captures the knee-jerk male political culture of covering up for the perpetrator while giving little or no thought to, and certainly displaying no empathy for, the unfortunate female victim. In the cur-

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rent #MeToo historical era, this theme will likely resonate strongly with many viewers.

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