Jul 12, 2018 By Rachel Basinger rbasinger@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

The Kennedy family has always led high profile lives with a very storied past.

From the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the assassination of his brother Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, to the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard in 1999 — all have been the subject of widespread analysis.

The film “Chappaquiddick,” however, brings a bit of scrutiny to an incident that younger generations might not have heard so much about: a car accident in 1969 involving Ted Kennedy that resulted in the death of campaign strategist Mary Jo Kopechne.

The real life events recount that on July 18, 1969, Kopechne attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the east coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., celebrating the dedicated work of the Boiler Room Girls. Ted Kennedy, whom Kopechne did not know well, testified that he offered to drive her to catch the last ferry back to Edgartown and she left the party with Kennedy at 11:15 p.m.

Kopechne did not tell her close friends at the party that she was leaving, and she left her purse and keys behind. Kennedy drove a 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off a narrow, unlit bridge, which lacked guardrails and was not on the route to Edgartown.

The Oldsmobile landed on its roof in Poucha Pond. Kennedy extricated himself from the vehicle and survived, but Kopechne did not.

Rotten Tomatoes said that not only did this event take the life of an aspiring political strategist and Kennedy insider, but it ultimately changed the course of presidential history forever.

Jason Clarke (“Zero Dark Thirty” and “Everest”) takes on the role of Kennedy, and Kate Mara (“Fantastic Four” and “Shooter”) plays Kopechne.

Through true accounts, documented in the inquest from the investigation in 1969, Director John Curran and writers Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen, intimately expose the broad reach of political power, the influence of America’s most celebrated family and the vulnerability of Ted Kennedy.

The user rating on Rotten Tomatoes for the film is 72 percent and the Tomatometer rating is “certified fresh” at 80 percent.

The Critics Consensus is that “‘Chappaquiddick’ 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.”

This film is rated PG-13 for thematic material, disturbing images, some strong language and historical smoking.

Other films that released to home theater outlets this week included:

n “A Quiet Place,” starring John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds, and directed by Krasinski, follows a family who lives in complete silence to avoid being eaten by creatures that hunt through sound. The two parents and their son and deaf daughter all communicate through sign language and must come up with ingenious ways to outsmart the blind monsters and stay alive.

This film is rated PG-13 for bloody images.

n “Future World,” starring James Franco, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu and Snoop Dogg, is directed by Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung. A young boy’s mother is dying and beyond the capabilities of any local medicine. Desperate for answers, the boy travels across the barren future world wasteland, scavenging for a cure that is only rumored to exist. His will and perseverance will be tested as he strives to protect his family.

This film is rated R for drug use, language, sexual situations and violence.