Review: The Senator
DVD: The Senator (2017)
In July, 1969, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) younger brother of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy calls his cousin, Joe Gargan (Ed Helms) to arrange for hotel rooms on Martha’s Vineyard for the ‘Boiler Room Girls’; his brother Robert’s campaign staff. They travel to the infamous Chappaquiddick Island, where he goes to a party at a beach house with his friends and the Boiler Room Girls.
Ted leaves the party with Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara). A car accident happens leaving Mary dead and trapped in the water, Ted escapes, runs away and doesn’t inform the police until ten hours later. This attempts to fill in those ten hours, but is mostly speculation.
I don’t remember this ‘fall’ of another Kennedy. What a tragic family they are, the last son, Ted, should have carried John and Robert’s torch into politics, but seemed to suffer from his brother’s philandering ways. This docu-drama tells the story, although no-one but the protagonists really know the truth of the matter, and Clarke is believable as Ted Kennedy and Helms plays against type in a serious role.
This film has great reviews online, but I found it rather dry and admit I was looking forward to watching it and was disappointed at its earnestness. Abandoning someone trapped in a sunken car is no joke, but it was a hard watch. Perhaps it would have been more interesting had I been invested in the story (i.e. being American?).
Amazingly Kennedy admitted his ‘misdemeanour’ and was still voted into government for 40 years.
The Senator is released on 20th August 2018 and you can buy it by clicking HERE. ALL money raised by purchasing from Amazon via our website is given back to our listeners and followers in upcoming competition prizes. The more people buy, the bigger our prizes.
Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Fetch Publicity.