Chappaquiddick. John Curran, director. Let’s assume for the moment that conservatives are right in their claims that this movie is an honest portrayal of the young Senator Ted Kennedy. So what? His legacy resides in what comes after the accident during his long career in the Senate.

Of course, the movie is NOT an honest portrayal. First, no one was there when Mary Jo and Ted went off that bridge and she died, so the portrayal of her drowning and Ted’s actions afterwards that night are unknowns—at best we can call the movie’s portrayal artistic license. Second, Papa Joe’s first word to Ted in the movie, “Alibi,” is even more fictional because the old bootlegger had suffered a stroke and couldn’t speak—we might even call this slanderous, but I guess you can’t slander a dead person, which includes Papa Joe and Ted and almost all the people portrayed in the movie. Third, Ted is made out to appear like a spoiled rich boy and mentally challenged.  While there’s no denying the first, the second is debatable. His many subsequent years in the Senate showed him to be a crafty fox who brokered many bipartisan deals that have bettered the country.

I wasn’t impressed by this movie—far from it! Its free interpretation of history amounts to character assassination. It’s also boring and poorly acted (a lot of that rests with the director, of course), with the actors’ portrayals parodies of the real persons emphasizing a few (mostly negative) character traits as if they were in an SNL skit, except there’s nothing humorous here.

I’m not varnishing this review with my own politics. In fact, I never liked the Kennedys. I don’t like political dynasties of any kind, and that includes the Bushes, Clintons, Gores, and Kennedys. And I don’t like how the American public treats political families like royalty (or the worshipping of the British royal family, for that matter). The Kennedys always were faux liberals (Ted’s NIMBY attitude toward windmills off Hyannis is a case in point) who exhibited a smug sense of entitlement they never deserved (and still do, I suppose). But they sometimes did good things, and Ted had a much longer career in which to do them, so I also can’t stand obvious character assassinations a la Fox News being disguised as real history and honest filmmaking.

So see this movie if you must, but don’t believe any of it beyond the name of the little island.  There are already good and honest biographies about the Kennedy family and Ted Kennedy, and a new one is coming out.  The movie is neither a biography nor a documentary; it’s the filmmakers making a character assassination to further a political agenda. Who financed this piece of trash anyway? I have my suspicions.

***

Great Spring Thaw Sale. Every two weeks, with one week overlap, starting April 1, one of my books will be on sale at Smashwords (the overlap means that there are usually two books on sale). (Yes, it’s been going on…sorry about that, but it was announced on my Home page and elsewhere.) Take advantage of this to download some entertaining spring reading. Each ebook will be on sale for $1.99, regardless of the normal retail price. Access my author page for the entire list of ebooks. (Remember, Smashwords offers ALL ebook formats, including mobi format for Kindles.) Use the coupon code for the ebook on checkout.

In libris libertas!

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