Christine

"Christine" (2016 release; 115 min.) is a movie about the final days of TV news reporter Christine Chubbuck. As the movie opens, we see Christine conduct an imaginary interview with President Nixon, who is under fire for Watergate. It is the summer of 1974, and Christine is a reporter at a small TV station in Sarasota, FL. She is not happy with her role at the station (dreaming to be promoted to a bigger anchoring role), and not happy with her life in general (living with her mom, no romantic interest in her life, etc.). At this point, we are 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie, "based on true events" we are reminded at the beginning, is a stunning look at the downward spiral of a lonely but ambitious woman, who is determined to make it 'big' in the TV news business, yet seemingly can't catch a break. Director Antonio Campos does an excellent job, capturing the zeitgeist of the nation at that time, replicating the looks and feel of the summer of 1974 almost to perfection (including a bunch of radio hits from that era--now sounding pretty horrible). Even though Christine finds some outlets (volunteering at the local children's hospital), it isn't nearly enough to prevent the sad and horrifying ending. Since we all know going in how this is going to end, it makes for a pretty depressing experience, even though the movie itself is quite good. Rebecca Hall shines as Christine, and she carries the movie on her shoulders from start to finish, but equally outstanding is Tracy Lets as her boss Michael, the TV station's manager who keeps urging Christine to "just make your stories juicy" and "if it bleeds, it leads". Guess he never imagined Christine would take that to its ultimate conclusion...

"Christine" opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay, somewhat to my surprise. It looks like there is some interest out there to find out what drove this woman to do what she did. I don't know that I can recommend this movie all that strongly, since this is an utterly depressing viewing experience, but let me be clear that "Christine" is a well-made and well-acted movie for sure.

I have a confession to make. I saw this during the Halloween period and wanted to watch the classic horror movie Christine from 1983. Instead I saw this film and by serendipitous good luck came across a powerful and sad drama that made me cry (to confuse matters this drama is set in the late 70s and is filmed with a filter to make it feel authentic. When a possessed car did not turn up around 20 minutes in, I knew then it was a different film!)

This is a powerful film because it tackles depression and lost hope but does not dwell in the melancholy of the situation. The ending is tragic and it dawned on me that Christine Chubbuck death was probably the provenance for the story in Network which followed 2 years later.

Rebecca Hall is supported by a wealth of talent and the acting is excellent from everyone. It felt so real, like watching a fly on the wall drama.

I am glad I saw this film because it reminded me that people (and I include myself) may look OK on the outside, but they could be screaming in the inside. A lot of dramas avoid mental health and well being because in many quarters it is still considered to be taboo, but more films like this need to me made and watched.

Christine (2016)

A small market local television station in Western Florida in the 1970s might be the epitome of tawdry, pathetic America. Or so it appears here, where a rag-tag crew of struggling journalists and talking heads patch together a low budget news show every day. And ratings are going down.

Christine (played by Rebecca Hall) is a second string reporter in this wishful situation. Her life is full of compromises, and her efforts to excel at her work are awkward and sometimes sad. But she has determination, and works hard. When two of her colleagues are chosen over her for promotion, it's just another reminder that life sucks.

First point to make here: don't read anything about the big point of this movie ahead of time. I was lucky to not have a clue what this was all leading up to, and it was a final terrific punch to a slow, empathetic lead up.

By empathetic I mean that the movie makers (writer Craig Shilowich and director Antonia Campos) have shown the situation for what it was. It took a lot of restraint to keep this from turning to parody, or to become critical, or even to be highly dramatic in a kind of glitzy way. There is a steady, almost disappointing feeling to it all. Not a single character seems admirable, and yet every one is perfectly ordinary and nice. Even the incompetence throughout is a normal kind of mediocrity, mixed with sprinkles of hope and humor.

And people are generally good to each other even as they strive to move up (and out of Sarasota). It's a realistic construction of a mise-en-scene that will not sparkle or create intrigue or move you in particular. Until the end.

And that's pretty amazing. The dullness and the acting might strike you as just bad— as if this movie just plain sucks. But it's not the movie, but the subject, that is so uninspiring. Stick it out, if you like it at all. Admire Hall's acting, which is remarkably nuanced.

I hadn't really read anything about the plot of the film. I only heard the praise for Hall and so I decided to give it a go. A few minutes in and I realized what real-life event it was going to be about and it really soured my mood. It's just not a fun film to watch at all. I've read so much about the real life person that the whole thing was just a very depressing experience. It's hard for me o accurately judge the film as a whole but I can say that Rebecca Hall is devastatingly effective here. There are no false notes in her performance at all and I am tempted to say that it is one of the finest portrayals of depression I have ever seen in a film. She makes you absolutely feel her pain and her sorrow and it all becomes so powerful that it makes the whole thing even more grim. She should be getting all of the award nominations possible and the fact that she has flown so under the radar is absolutely criminal.

This film left me speechless and crying in parts, even though I mistakenly researched the film before watching it, is was still left with a number of mixed emotions. I can't remember a film having such a deep and traumatising effect on me, it is truly one of the saddest stories on film. Obviously don't research anything about this film before seeing it because it will probably shock you.

Firstly the film as a whole, is good / OK, its fine but it can get a little slow here and there. It was a story that I'd never heard of which is unbelievable really, but probably due to the fact it was before my time and didn't happen in my country. As mentioned I researched the film a little before watching it due to its really good trailer and yep ruined to ending and all the overbearing issues in the film, but was still interesting in how it was going to be brought to screen. The directing is OK nothing groundbreaking but I think a very personal and thought provoking film like this doesn't need anything out of this world. The supporting cast are all fine and average characters that you can sort of connect with, some obviously more than others. There is a really good close, family like feeling in the news station that the characters have with each other, which is an interesting dynamic. So overall the film is good, I can now see why this isn't getting as much buzz as I thought it was because this film stands on one performance.

Rebecca Hall in my opinion is a very talented and often underrated actor, who deserves bigger roles, this film only backs up my claim. This is personally the best performance I think she has done in her career so far, due to the complexities of the character she is portraying, Christine. Whether you are a man or woman, or have dealt with some of what she is going through or all of what he is going through, this film will hit you very hard. I can say from personal experience some of her social situations or mannerisms are perfectly portrayed on screen because I can see myself in that situation doing the same thing. If you have never suffered from depression or any mental health issue this film might make it easier for you to understand it a bit more. There is so much to this character that can't be put into words the sorrow and surprising anger that I personally had towards her. I never ever had a film made me shout out loud in anger because I want the character to do something so badly or just speak to someone about her problems, but I also know how difficult that is. This character is easy to connect with as the audience because she genuinely wants to be happy and you want her to be happy as well, she is in now way a horrible person who had done something wrong, she has done nothing to deserve the situation she finds herself in. It actually made me sick to my stomach the ending to the film and how easy to it could have been to change and find help, it is truly a social injustice. Your mind will be overwhelmed with emotions, like mine is now, that you want to express and can't. 100% this film will make you cry or make you just feel horrible and if you don't then you aren't human.

All in all this film banks on the performance of Rebecca Hall which is fantastic and should be championed more than it is, however the rest of the film can be a little lack lustre. I think this film needed a couple of more characters to be a bit more interesting or relatable or for the story at the news station to be a bit more, meat to the bone. Saying that, if that is what happened in the true story then it should be changed for entertainment purposes. Finally I think the ending of the film could have been tackled a little better instead of just grinding to a halt, like the film makers run out of time. 70% out of 100 the performance of Rebecca Hall, the story and the emotional reaction I had to film make it a good watch, I will never forget the first time I watched this film. You should definitely watch this film for the social injustice it is and the risks and dangers surrounding metal health issues.