Curran has filled his North Eastern insular universe with a delightful smorgasbord of mostly unfamiliar character faces, all of whom look, feel and sound like 1969. Along with its other qualities, the film is a textbook example of good casting.
Chappaquiddick might work best as an indictment of everything from political dynasties to impropriety among elected officials to society's short attention span, but the movie also serves up a solid character study.
Clarke makes us feel plenty of things we'd rather not. His eyes are shadowed with profound decency one minute, and hollowed out in desperate calculation the next.
I wasn't fully convinced by the lead performance of Australian Jason Clarke. There are moments where his character is so dumb but others where he is so shrewd.
Chappaquiddick is heavy-handed history, a film that at times seems to owe as much to The X-Files as the many cinematic dives into the target-rich territory that is the Kennedy clan.
A film of integrity and disclosure, a controversial chapter in American history that substitutes clinical accuracy for Hollywood embellishment, with an impressive attention to detail and an admirable respect for suspenseful narrative.
Thanks to an intriguingly nuanced performance from Australian actor Jason Clarke, Chappaquiddick does more than simply rehash why Kennedy was never able to leave the incident behind.
The film displays so beautifully how power renders you above reproach, with Kennedy not even taking enough time to make up for causing Kopechne's death.
