Brad Anderson is a television actor who has puttered around that industry going back to David Simon's Homicide: Life On The Streets and The Wire. This is pretty much his first feature film opportunity in the director's chair, and Beirut certainly shows that he has a lot of talent... as a television director. No question the chops are there, but the framing and pacing of Beirut suffers from a kind of small thinking that fails to keep one's attention for very long. He hasn't learned how to take advantage of large set pieces and exotic locations to expand the experience for his audience. Some will believe I'm talking about action or the kind of cheap thrills that sell tickets, but that's not exactly my point. There's enough action here, and the thoughtful script by writer Tony Gilroy is actually clever and engaging. It's even a little old-school, and I like that kind of thing. But Brad Anderson just doesn't know exactly what to do with it, and it suffers at his inexperienced hands.

It's 1972 Mason Skiles (Hamm) is a skilled diplomat stationed in Beirut where he must juggle the concerns of the warring PLO and Israel along with his obligations to America and the restless population. It's a job he does well, and he's managed to balance the necessary agendas with some success. He's celebrating with a party at his home when gunmen crash the party and kill his wife. They also kidnap a local boy whom he was trying to help, who ends up being the sibling to the terrorist who orchestrated the attack. The loss sends Skiles into a downward spiral of alcohol and depression.

Bold and incredibly compelling, the movie Chappaquiddick is a “tell all” with a lot of authority.  Much like last year’s The Post, it tells its story pulling no punches, playing out the characters and holding nothing back.  Although I’m familiar with the incident, many of the facts were clouded, squashed, or lost due to current events at the time.  If you liked The Post, then here’s a film that will enlighten you and make you cringe. In 1969 about one year after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy while he was touring for votes to be nominated for President, his brother Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) was already thinking about his chance at the highest position in America. On the fateful night of July 18, however, things ran amok, taking him out of any chance for the Presidency. 

It was late in the evening on Martha’s Vineyard, Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, and a party was going strong in a cottage following the yearly sailing regatta. At the cottage were Senator Ted Kennedy, attorney Paul Markham (Jim Gaffigan), Ted’s cousin Joe Gargan (Ed Helms), Ray Larosa (Damien Di Paola) and six ladies in their late 20’s who served as the “boiler room” campaigners for Robert F. Kennedy.  They included Susan Tannenbaum (Katie Henoch), Esther Newberg, Rosemary Keough (Gillian Mariner Gordon), Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara), sisters Maryellen (Angela Hope Smith) and Nance Lyons (Lexie Roth).