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I'm going to write this review as if you had not heard the sensational and tragic story of Christine Chubbuck. If you are unfamiliar with Christine's story then I suggest you do not read into it before seeing this film. I shall reveal very little of it here.

The story concerns the real life story of Christine Chubbuck, a reporter in Florida in the 1970s. As an opportunity opens up at a bigger news station, Christine finds herself attempting to adopt the station manager's sensationalist approach to the news. The film details her struggle with depression and it's impact on her personal life and work.

The depression is seen as both the result and cause of Christine 's difficulty in connecting with others. Many characters throughout the film reach out to her only for her to pull away. The cyclical nature of depression is all too familiar but what's interesting here is that each character who reaches out to Christine is well meaning but insist on viewing her depression in their own way instead of actually speaking with Christine.

At one point Christine screams "why is no one listening to me?!" and it's true. No one listens to Christine. Her mother is certain that she just needs a man. The anchor on her news show is certain she just needs therapy. Her friend at the station is certain that she just needs ice cream. Everyone is so quick to offer possible remedies and solutions that Christine is actually overlooked.

This is exemplified in the "Yes, but" game as seen in the trailer for the film. In the game the speaker tells the listener their problems. The listener then suggests a solution to which the speaker replies "yes, but" and points out the issues with that solution. The idea may be to get to the heart of the speaker's problems or for them to simply run out of problems and start thinking about solutions but the effect is clear. The issues and concerns of the speaker are being dismissed, one by one. Often with just a few words.

This portrayal of the isolating effects of depression is very affecting. We see Christine attempt to bury herself in work, buying a radio scanner to listen in on police frequencies in an attempt to find the gruesome story she needs to gain recognition. As we see her hunched over her notepad listening to two police officers brag about sexual conquests, we can see the cracks starting to appear.

The entire film hinges on Rebecca Hall's ability to play a character who is simultaneously spiralling out of control and deeply sympathetic and fortunately she accomplishes this extremely well. She is magnetic to watch even as she shrinks into the backgrounds of the scenes in which Christine finds herself. Her awkwardness and frustration are told through tiny movements and gestures.

The film takes some liberties with the real life of Christine Chubbuck. Some people on her life have been omitted and some incidents have been made to occur later than they actually did for dramatic effect. However if you walk into this film without knowing how Christine's story ended then I am sure you will be as shocked as the world was back in 1975 and hopefully you will reflect on how you personally react to depression, in yourself and others. If you're anything like me you will emerge from the cinema desperate to know more about this enigmatic and tragic young woman.

The film is a very tense and uncomfortable slow burn with some surprisingly funny moments. Performances are excellent all round but this really is Hall's show and is an excellent showcase for her talents as a screen presence.

"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 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.

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.

Christine (2016/I) was directed by Antonio Campos. Rebecca Hall plays Christine Chubbuck, a TV reporter in Sarasota, Florida. This is a fictionalized biography of Ms. Chubbuck. If you check Wikipedia, you'll know that much of what we see actually happened.

Christine Chubbuck was a person with depression, or possibly bipolar illness. She was well educated and financially comfortable, but her interpersonal life was in shambles. In the film, her behavior was strange and sometimes bizarre. People keep asking her, "Are you OK?" She always assures them that she's OK, and they believe her. Even if they don't fully believe her, they have their own problems, and they move on to other matters.

Rebecca Hall is an excellent actor. She resembles Christine Chubbuck physically. (That's probably one of the reasons she got the part.) She makes us believe in Christine and her problems, which is no easy task. (People who don't have mental illness find it hard to fake.)

This is a difficult movie to watch, but I felt that the acting was strong, and the message was important. I wish the producers had rolled a statement before the credits saying, "If you, or someone you know, feels and acts like Christine, call this hotline."

We saw the movie at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester NY. It will work very well on the small screen.

Most people who have ever heard of Christine Chubbuck already know how her story ends; She's been attributed to glimpsing into the future of television journalism with her final statement, the story turning into a morbid urban legend in the over forty years since the incident occurred. I admit, the first time I heard the story almost ten years ago, it sounded so bizarre, I almost couldn't believe it.

Christine sets out to humanize Christine Chubbuck, and elicit empathy from an audience that might already see her as someone who is monstrous. Yet, somehow, the movie accomplishes it's goal, giving her humanity that was lost in the headlines. Much of that credit is due to Rebecca Hall who transformed herself completely, throwing herself into the role so thoroughly that it's almost frightening.

The first time we see Christine she is filming herself doing a mock interview, and then later on, we see Christine examining every little gesture, picking herself apart in order to remake herself into something better to gain that elusive feeling of perfection, yet no matter how many times she's assured by Jean Reed (Maria Dizzia), the only person at WZRB that could probably be considered a friend, there's still that look of dissatisfaction with herself etched on her face.

It's been written that Christine Chubbuck used to give puppet shows to mentally challenged children so the screenwriter incorporated that into the film, but it's utilized as little glimpses of what she's thinking: 'Be Bold, Be Brave' she tells them, a fairly innocuous phrase, but for the viewer who knows what's to come later on, it has chilling connotations.

The moment that made Christine Chubbuck famous is shown in all of it's brutal and devastating impact. The film even shows her mother watching as it all unfolds. I don't know if Christine Chubbuck's mother, Peg, was actually watching the day Christine did what she did, but the possibility of that actually occurring, is heartbreaking.

It's a testament to the filmmakers that, though Christine can often come across as incredibly difficult and unlikable, the audience still has a great deal of empathy for her. Yes, she has fights with her boss about 'blood and guts' television, and her mother about the state of her life, but it's carefully contrasted with moments of quiet desperation, like the sequence when the head news anchor, George (Michael C. Hall), takes her to a transactional analysis meeting where they play a game of 'Yes, but…" and Christine slowly reveals the things that she feels make her life impossible to live.

Overall, Christine is a portrait of a woman desperately trying to make something of herself but because of a chemical imbalance, she can't seem to sync with the people and world around her. Anchored by Rebecca Hall who gives an Oscar-worthy turn, Christine is also supported by an excellent supporting cast (Maria Dizzia and J. Smith Cameron in particular), strong direction and an incisive script. Highly recommended.

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.

The tragic story of a young, promising reporter struggling with depression.

For anyone reading this and suffering, you are not alone. Many people go through hard times in life and in their own heads. You MUST remember that circumstances and states of mind can change for the better and even quickly. Please don't make a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Christine, one of the best films I've seen this year, might appear at first to be about a feminist issue - set in 1974 at a small TV station in Sarasota, Florida, a woman named Christine Lubbock (Rebecca Hall) has to contend with her male co-workers and male boss, and where they get preferential treatment (at least seemingly, ultimately) despite being told by her own boss she's the smartest on there - but it's strongest as a depiction of mental illness. This is the subject that actually makes for more compelling subject matter, though it is harsher to see depicted; I cringe watching this film, it's uncomfortable to watch, and despite/because of this it's a brilliant depiction of a bi-polar person and the interior struggle of her life.

There are two fronts this film is successful. The first is the technical aspect. This looks, feels, acted, sounds like a movie from the period in the 70's (you know, back when American cinema was king as far as getting deeper into character and mood and technique and showing a reality moviegoers hadn't been exposed to much before outside of foreign cinema) with Campos and his DP using zoom lenses and shots that linger maybe just a little too long, and audio that sometimes (no, often times) can put us into the state of mind of the character: when Christine is laser-focused, nothing else can detract from her. When she is wary, she may hear the sounds outside that make her a little distracted (there's one scene between Christine and George, played by Michael C Hall, in a car that made me see/hear this). Not to mention the clothes, the music (so much bad 70's pop on the precipice of disco), and how people talked to one another.

The other thing that makes it authentic is how Christine and everyone talks, The dialog here is all about showing the realism of the TV station, and finding the nuance and what surrounds this woman who is very smart. It could be said she has a touch of Asperger's along with the bi-polar, if one wanted to go into a diagnosing-on-the-couch approach. But that takes away from what Campos and Rebecca Hall accomplish with this character. One may be reminded of Nightcrawler from two years ago, also about an ambitious being in the world of news (also, one should say, with a mental or personality disorder of some kind, and access to a police radio for the latest scoop), only while Gyllenhall in that film was a pure sociopath and no lack of communicating what he thinks/feels/sees, Christine's problems are an inability to come out with something all the time.

To be sure she's surrounded by the kind of news culture that has only multiplied exponentially over the past four decades; "If it bleeds, it leads," Christine's boss says, to which Christine reminds him that's a BS catch-phrase. No matter: the pressure is on to get things that people want to see, that brings ratings, and the same "human interest" stories about locals with Strawberry farms or chicken coops won't cut it. But what drew me in to this film was how potent the point of view was for Christine in this world. It's hinted at (or flat out spoken) that she had some previous anxiety/personality/bi-polar disorder issues back in Boston where she used to work, and now being in Sarasota isn't being much of an improvement. So among this news team, where she tries to find her own path and is up against resistance (some understandable, some not), and with friends (Maria Dizza as Jean is as good a supporting performance as from Michael C Hall, and he's really great here), she makes her own problems but never in a way that makes her unsympathetic.

Christine is closer if anything to Taxi Driver as far as a story of someone on the edge of an existence, and it's all the more painful because of what Christine is able and ready to do, her talents and intuition and in her way mix of innocence and cynicism (though mostly disbelief) at the world around her, which includes her own pot-smoking hippie mother. Hall taps into the ball of contradictions in this character, and I was often on the edge of my seat like this was the most intense thriller in years.

And it's in fact all based on a true story; I had known a couple of the broad strokes of the story, the climax in particular, and I almost wish I hadn't. I won't mention what happens to the sometimes awkward, full articulate but "not easy to approach" (as George says to her at one point) Christine by the end of her story, but even knowing it the filmmakers and Hall draw us in so inexorably to her interior and exterior struggles through such precise and heartbreaking storytelling that I can't shake the feeling this will be with me for a while.

It's 1973 Sarasota, Florida. Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) is a struggling TV news reporter doing humanist stories. Watergate is heating up and she is high-minded about reporting. George (Michael C. Hall) is the handsome anchor. Camerawoman Jean is her best friend. Station manager Michael tells them that the station is failing and pushes, "If it bleeds, it leads." Christine's doctor has a dire diagnosis. Station owner Bob Andersen has purchased another news station in big market Baltimore and is looking take along one reporter. Pressure mounts as she does something shocking on live TV.

This movie is based on true events as it tells the audience in the opening credits. It's hampered by a story that climaxes in one big moment after two meandering hours. There are lots of interesting sign posts to detour from the path but the story never goes down those roads. There's a great creepy gun guy but he's an one-off. There's a truncated affair that never starts. We're left with an intriguing performance from Rebecca Hall of a tightly wound woman but it is mostly internal. It's two hours of frustrating powerlessness as we watch a woman drowning in her own mind. That could be compelling but somehow, this is unsatisfying.

I really enjoyed the 70's soundtrack but found some things disturbing. Some of the songs were beautifully interwoven like "Annie's Song," "Please Come to Boston" and "Rock Your Baby" while other 60's songs were distracting to the feel and style of the movie. The biggest mistake was the song "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" which was a big hit in 1974, the year the movie is set, by Donny and Marie Osmond but instead of using that track the director dug up an old album version by Sonny and Cher from 1966. It was very distracting and the kind of goof that is not necessary if they would have done the smallest research. Otherwise, the cars, computers and clothes were very 70's and helped to set the scene. The Mary Tyler Moore theme was a great addition and I did not find it distracting that they used the lyrics that were changed a few years later. The background news coverage of the Watergate hearings was eerie and set the tone. A very stylish, dark and meaningful piece of art. As a child of that era, I found the film educational and entertaining. Must see.

A fascinating character study of a young newswoman grappling with mental illness (or on the spectrum?). She's smart and capable, deserving of her coworkers' praise but too defensive to accept it. That same insecurity extreme to her romantic life; her loneliness is simply awful. The movie depicts Christine Chubbuck as a person who wants bigger and better, but not at the cost of doing what she loves; she's a human-interest reporter in a newsroom culture that stresses "if it bleeds it leads".

The point I'm getting at here is that the film isn't about the tragedy of Christine as it is her painful life. It's surprisingly empathetic given her place as a TV history footnote, and Rebecca Hall deserves immense credit for her standout performance; it is exceptional. There isn't a lot of they're about this reporter, but Hall humanizes her admirably.

This isn't a shocking story, it's a heartbreaking one. I constantly wanted her to find happiness that just wasn't there.

If it bleeds, it leads. In response to such sentiment, reporter Christine Chubbuck committed suicide on live television on July 15, 1974, in Sarasota, Florida. This thoughtful, emotional and compelling film delves into Christine's character and likely motivations for taking her life just shy of her 30th birthday. Dreams of success in both her professional and personal life turned into a series of disappointments and troubles. Assigned to cover dull stories and turned down for promotions by the good ole boys club at her workplace that favored looser women, Christine also had health and family woes and a patronizing love interest. Awkward, often unapproachable and introverted, Christine was also intelligent, amiable, creative and kindhearted. She volunteered at a children's shelter where she presented short plays with puppets named Tangerine and Dragon. Her news ideas seemed brilliant and promising if they were just given the opportunity to succeed, yet none of this mattered in the network's drive for "juicier" and cheaper stories.

In this true story the ending is already known, yet the film is still suspenseful and fascinating. What is remarkable is that attitudes regarding the sensationalism of the news and the treatment of depression have not changed much since the 1970s. You'd think we might have learned something from this story if not from our own experiences since then. The story reminds us to "get to know the people around us," said the script writer after the showing at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Rebecca Hall is incredible in her portrayal of Christine. Christine's death is not overly dramatized. I liked the soundtrack that included a John Denver song.

An American drama; A story about an American television news reporter who struggles with depression along with professional and personal frustrations as she tries to advance her career. By this retelling this true-life biography it was important there was sensitivity employed in the process and interpretation. Also, it was important to present different themes with meaning - pain of humiliation, career crisis, and bipolar disorder - not just a portrayal of inevitability. Christine is a gripping drama with an impeccable central performance from Rebecca Hall who helps us understand newscaster Chubbuck's psychological collapse and the indignities weathered by a woman in a 1970s news station - she becomes the manifestation of the lack of hope.

After I came out of the theatre for the new film, Christine, I was absolutely speechless. I knew how the film was going to end based on historical data and information I had read about the main character who the film is based on before I saw it. I knew how it was going to end and yet the film had a very haunting and powerful presence over me not only with it's ending, but also the events leading up to it as well. This my dear readers is the sign of a great if not masterful film in each and every way. A film that can completely envelope you into it's world and it's group of characters and so affect you that afterwards you are completely shaken and at a loss for words because you have so many different feelings and emotions going on in both your head and your every part of the body that no matter what you may be thinking, or feeling, you know that this is a film and an experience that you will not soon forget. Even if the film was something that you didn't personally like, or couldn't get into, I would find it hard to find anybody who would actually sit down and give this film a chance, who was not personally affected, chilled, or had some strong emotions resonating within them by the time the film was over. I stress highly that this strong and powerful affect was not simply by use of excessive violence, shock value, or bad taste, but more than anything the wonderful development of this character, Christine and how we have so many conflicted and battling emotions of what to think and feel for her and yet we feel that much stronger those feelings for her because even though we may not understand her, or what she is going through, we still feel extremely deeply inside and out for her. This film could be compared to films such as Network, or even Nightcrawler from a few years ago. However, I would suggest that this film gives the indication of sensationalism in the media and news broadcasts in particular, but it does not just stop there, but instead gives us an absolutely riveting story of a young woman with some serious mental health issues that will ultimately prove to be too much for her, or really anybody to handle. The film takes place in 1974 and although it is based on a real person and events, I would be curious to know that up until this movie, how many people actually knew of Christine Chubbuck, or remember her from the newscasts back at that time. Was it a well publicized event, or something that maybe due to the sensitive nature of it was perhaps withheld from the media? I am glad however that this has been made into a feature length film. I have heard of some arguments calling the film exploitative and causing further harm, or smearing to that of Christine and her remaining family members and loved ones. I would however argue that while the film is certainly a disturbing watch and quite upsetting at times, that it is an essential film and a story that definitely needs to be told. Simply for the reason of Christine's mental illness and showing how much affect that can have on own's social, work, home and personal life in each and every way. As we go through the film see event after event and difficulty after difficulty affecting Christine and while sometimes we get so frustrated watching her because of her social awkwardness and unorthodox ways of handling herself and sometimes to the point of creating more trouble for herself that it can be maddening to watch at times simply because in a sense we still care and feel for this deeply troubled young woman. I think in some ways whilst dealing with mental illness she should be credited for being a woman of perseverance and never giving up and also someone who was never quite understood of others, but perhaps if given a chance to shine she would have a lot to offer to others such as the puppet shows she would put on at the local children's hospital. We see several different factors all that trouble Christine greatly and the performance by Rebecca Hall is probably with Hailee Steinfeld, the best female performance of 2016 and one that I hope is not overlooked. It must have been a draining performance and a difficult one, but Hall pulls it off flawlessly in what is the best performance of her career. The film's attention to detail and overall affect that comes across to you is masterfully done by it's cast and crew and like I mentioned earlier it is a film that will stay with you for a long time if not forever. What a wonderful achievement and with Edge of Seventeen, it is the best film of 2016 and I doubt there will be few if any that will top it this year. Also what in a way is a great look into the world of mental illness and how far we have come with help and awareness in that area. Something definitely to be applauded.

Can a movie be more boring, that drags you on for 2 hours with nothing happening....And then bam! A good ending happened. I was confused trying to rate this because I liked the end and know that this was a true story but it was told in such a long drawn out boring tone that it really was a waste of time. If you want to watch a movie about a boring women that does nothing with her life then watch this. If I had to watch this all over again, I would pass. My 6 rating encompassed the acting which I thought was good, the end which was good, the realism since it was a true story and that is it. Watch the first 15 minutes, leave the room for the next hour and then come back. This would make for a terrific short story of like 30 minutes. That's it. Nothing less, nothing more.

Watching this movie isn't easy - and it is not because of the tragic life of Christine Chubbuck. Is the acting good? Yes. Are the period treatments interesting? You bet. Is it a movie that has enough of a narrative to keep you engaged? No.

Assuming this movie is directed with some accuracy, Christine Chubbuck was not an interesting figure. Despite her occasional attempts at light hearted humor, she was introverted and boring. She was an 'ok' journalist (naturally, upset at her lack of validation) and saddled with a maternal figure that clearly wasn't helping her mood. Oh yeah, she also had cancer. Consider all of that, and consider yourself warned.

Christine is one of those movies where you constantly find yourself saying, "oh ok, this is the scene where 'something' happens". Well, nothing happens until the end. You find yourself constantly disappointed she is so blithely average. And this is the problem with a movie like this: It is intentionally lackluster because the main character is lackluster (not the actress, but the character). Even when she manages to provide 3 seconds of "holy crap...did she just...?", the moment is gone and replaced with same banal consistency that led up to the holy crap moment. Why? Because Christine Chubbuck wasn't interesting. She was a throw-away intellect caught inside a vicious world of journalism. Is that tragic? You bet. But does it make for a good movie? Not in this case.

We are often admonished by professional reviewers because us 'average folk' don't appreciate good acting and character development. Well, we do but we also like a beginning, a middle and an end; we like interesting story lines and exciting, unexpected moments. Christine is a languid, directorial display of an uninteresting person caught in the middle. We are blessed with one, exciting moment. And frankly, it is only exciting because it signals the end of a very dry treatment.

Do yourself a favor....watch something else.

I could only bring myself to watch the first half of this film - I know the ending and it's too disturbing. But the movie has a lot going for it. Chiefly, the writers seek to understand and empathise with Christine, the young journalist on a small town TV news program. She's very intelligent, capable, sensitive and outspoken. But she's a misfit, unable to connect to others, and worried about her love life. There doesn't seem to be an answer to this problem, so maybe that's where her despair comes from. As Christine, Rebecca Hall is excellent. She immerses herself in this world. She is far from the glamorous TV reporter and her problems are real problems, not superficial stuff. The movie has a washed out look - a yellow tinge that gives it an other-worldly vibe. It reminds us what a different world the mid-70s were, with political and social turbulence, changing gender roles, and primitive technology, compared to today. I like how everyone in the movie seems to be muddling through life. Christine's news editor seems a bit gruff but he's not evil. He's under a lot of pressure because the news program isn't doing so well. It will probably always be a mystery about why someone would act like Christine did in the end. But it's worthwhile exploring her mindset. And good on the producers for making a film about a complex, intelligent young woman who's not a Barbie doll.