Chappaquiddick Information

Chappaquiddick is a 2017 American drama film directed by John Curran and written by Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan. The film stars Jason Clarke as Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Kate Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne, with Ed Helms, Bruce Dern, Jim Gaffigan, Clancy Brown, and Olivia Thirlby in supporting roles. The plot details the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, wherein Senator Kennedy drove his car into a lake, killing Kopechne, and the subsequent political and social ramifications.

Principal photography began in Boston in September 2016. The film premiered at the Gala Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017, and was released in the United States on April 6, 2018, by Entertainment Studios. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its balanced screenplay and Clarke's performance.

Plot

Through true accounts, documented in the inquest from the investigation in 1969, the film addresses the scandal and mysterious events surrounding the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara) after Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) drove his car off the infamous Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. Not only did this event take the life of an aspiring political strategist and Kennedy insider, it ultimately changed the course of presidential history, intimately exposing the broad reach of political power and influence of America's most celebrated family, and the vulnerability (and political destruction) of Ted Kennedy, the youngest son, in the shadow of his family legacy.

Cast

• Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy
• Kate Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne
• Ed Helms as Joe Gargan
• Bruce Dern as Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
• Jim Gaffigan as Paul F. Markham
• Taylor Nichols as Ted Sorensen
• Clancy Brown as Robert McNamara
• Olivia Thirlby as Rachel Schiff
• Lexie Roth as Nance Lyons
• John Fiore as Chief Arena
• Andria Blackman as Joan Bennett Kennedy
• Tamara Hickey as Marilyn Richards
• Alison Wachtler as Liz Trotta
• Victor Warren as Stephen Edward Smith
• Donald Watson as Dr. Watt
• Matthew Lawler as Dun Gifford
• Angela Hope Smith as Maryellen Lyons
• Brad Wheelwright as sailor
• David De Beck as Sargent Shriver
• Patrick Sheehan as John V. Tunney

Production

On December 14, 2015, it was announced that Sam Taylor-Johnson would direct the film, though she later dropped out. On April 25, 2016, it was announced Jason Clarke would play Ted Kennedy, with John Curran directing. On July 7, 2016, Kate Mara and Ed Helms joined the cast, to play Mary Jo Kopechne and Joe Gargan, respectively. On July 20, 2016, Bruce Dern was added as Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., while Jim Gaffigan and Olivia Thirlby joined the cast on August 31, 2016, and principal photography began in Boston on September 7, 2016.

Release

On September 8, 2017, Entertainment Studios acquired distribution rights to the film for $4 million. The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10. The film was initially scheduled for an awards season release, on December 8, 2017, but was moved back to April 6, 2018. The studio spent $16 million on promotion and advertisement.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Chappaquiddick was released alongside A Quiet Place, Blockers and The Miracle Season, and was projected to gross $2-4 million from 1,560 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting above expectations with $6.2 million, finishing 7th at the box office. Deadline Hollywood noted it was still a low figure given Entertainment Picture's $4 million purchase of the film and their $16 million advertising campaign, but the studio itself was satisfied with the results.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 74 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Chappaquidick can't help leaving some of this true story's most intriguing questions unanswered, but it's bolstered by outstanding work from Jason Clarke in the central role." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported men and women over the age of 25 (the film's largest demographic) gave it respective overall positive scores of 80% and 72%.

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called the film methodical but lacking passion, writing: "It's doubtful that many Americans under the age of 40 or so even know what the name Chappaquiddick refers to, which might in itself provide solid justification for making a film about it. But the drama of the tragic July 18, 1969, accident...needed more energetic and incisive treatment than it receives in this sober, somewhat slack telling."