'Christine' A Review

Christine is a biographical drama about Sarasota television news reporter Christine Chubbuck(Rebecca Hall) as she struggles with job fulfillment, romance, and depression. The film opens on Christine doing a fake interview with Nixon ostensibly for her reel, we then follow her as she prepares a segment for that evenings news broadcast. She produces interesting pieces although not in the "if it bleeds, it leads" style the station manager Michael(Tracey Letts) has been asking for. She has stilted but still relatively warm interactions with all her co-workers, volunteers at a local children's hospital where she does puppet shows, and lives with her mother to varying degrees of normalcy. As the film progresses Christine falls short of the high romantic and professional goals she has set for herself which thrusts her into deeper and deeper despair.

Hall gives a tour de force performance, the most meaty and ecstatic of her career, she finds an incredible balance of the mental illness and anti-social nature of Christine with a lively sense of charm, wry humor, and empathy. You never question that her mother and co-workers like her but you understand clearly that they are challenging relationships. Letts gives a great turn as the harrowed boss, he and Hall share some entertaining combative scenes which are underscored by the clear affection and respect between the characters. Michael C. Hall, Timothy Simons, Kim Shaw, and most notably Maria Dizzia round out the news room and give dimension and emotion to the ensemble. Christine although not a success as she would see it is liked and respected by her co-workers, there is no cliched bullying or ill treatment. In reality we seemingly get an engaging look at how a local news room may have functioned during that time and are invited into their seemingly insular club with warmth.

Rich visuals, an eerie foreboding score, and the use of super 8 footage and repeated scenes of the news team manipulating film serve to elevate this already captivating tragedy to real artistry.

A stunning lead, a rich ensemble, sharp  engaging production design.

Don't Miss It.