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.
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.