Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The Movie Diorama This is a study of Christine Chubbuck, a news reporter who took her own life live on TV. The inevitable scene where she attempts suicide was always going to be the moment that shocks the audience, but behind that is what truly captivates us. It isn't so much about the suicide, but more about Christine herself and what lead her to do this. An extremely complicated individual. Struggling socially and in her career, the downward slope towards depression was rather haunting to watch. I felt for her. She clearly wasn't the most approachable individual and her constant self-doubt ultimately lead her to her own demise. Her home life was awkward, as she still lived with her mother, and her disillusioned love for a co-worker made matters worse. It was evident that she wanted to matter, wanted to feel loved. Depression is a serious subject, and this film portrayed it with tenderness. Rebecca Hall continues to be one of the most underrated actresses working today. This is her best performance to date. She was outstanding. Her attention to detail is extraordinary, particularly as she imitated Christine's mannerisms such as a slight lean forward as she walks. The supporting cast were lesser known and I personally admired that, the focus is on Hall and should always be. Antonio Campos' directing style was very close and personal which suited the subject of this film. We follow Christine as her world continues to close in on her, having the camera always focus in on her allows that idea of being trapped to be conveyed. Unfortunately though, the screenplay isn't always engaging. Various scenes felt unnecessary and detracted from the main subject. Also the ending was too long, should've stopped as soon as she committed suicide. Would've been far more poignant. However, Christine is an extremely haunting tale of a woman who struggled so much that she took her own life, just not always compelling. Hall's best performance though, that alone is worth the watch.

avik-basu1889 There is a scene in 'Christine' where Christine Chubbuck's boss Michael at the news station shows her a news segment of a rival news network revolving around fat people. In response, she voiced her refusal to get involved with anything like that because to her, it's 'exploitative'. This is ironic because whenever there's a film about a tragedy that happened to real life ordinary characters in the past, there is always the risk that the film might veer into exploitative territories. Thankfully, 'Christine' stays respectful to its central character. I don't know much about the real Christine Chubbuck, so I can only comment on the Christine Chubbuck that is presented in the film. The Christine in the film feels like a real, complicated and three-dimensional character. She is clearly flawed, but the director remains sensitive in his treatment of her in the film.The period setting of 1970s America plays a thematic and contextual role in the film. This is post-Watergate America, one can sense the desperation, cynicism and the restlessness of the era. One can also feel that Christine Chubbuck is a woman of the new age who believes in the Feminist movement and the Women's Liberation movement. She is presented as a character who is on one hand plagued by acute loneliness, but one the other hand it is suggested that she is someone who deliberately blocks people out of her lives and doesn't open up to anyone. This resistance to having a meaningful connection with others or her inability to open up to anyone properly could be down to the fact that as a strong independent feminist woman working in the male dominated industry of journalism, she feels voicing her insecurities and making herself look vulnerable will make her look weak. The film does well to show how the confluence of a number of factors like loneliness, a frictional relationship with your parents, a directionless job,etc. can lead to an inescapable feeling of depression. Rebecca Hall pretty much single-handedly carries the film. It's a comprehensive performance where she uses her physicality, her eyes, her voice and everything at her disposal to create this complicated character on screen.But the film gets hampered a bit due to some of the writing. There are scenes where the dialogue becomes far too flowery which contradicts the matter-of-fact like dialogue of the other scenes. There are directorial choices here and there which also felt too heavy-handed. An example of this will be the very first scene of the film where we see a big carton with the word 'FRAGILE' written on it being inserted in the room at the background while we see Christine in the foreground.It's not a perfect film, but at least the director gets tricky job of the treatment of his central character right.

mbackes1968 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.

skitzoidcinephile Based on the true story of Chris Chubbuck, Christine hits almost every mark needed to portray a compelling film without being encumbered by the exploitative habits stories of this nature often lend themselves to. Nuance is the key to this film. It's brilliance lies squarely within its subtitles. The film maker charged his lead actress with an almost impossible task and, from all accounts, she nailed it. The real Christine is shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about her besides her very public departure. I believe there is approximately 20 minutes of video footage available of her work on Suncoast Digest and no other sources of information about anything happening before July 15, 1974. With such limited inspiration, Rebecca Hall delivers! People who knew the real woman say she has captured her charge perfectly. The entire cast was great but Hall outshines everyone with her awkward, honest, and desperate performance. Does the movie drag a bit? Yes. Are there scenes so awkward that the audience feels a bit uncomfortable? Absolutely. Do certain situations feel forced or over analyzed on the part of the protagonist? How can it be another way? These factors create the feel of the film. It helps the viewer feel what it is assumed that Chubbuck felt, her "different drumbeat" as her mother put it. The hardest scenes to watch were the puppet show scenes. No doubt all imagined by the writer, though we do know that the real Chris did perform for disabled children, the stories she created for them are her outlet for the trepidation she felt when dealing with the world. Be brave, be bold. Tell people who you are. Painful lessons to those who know what's coming. The low point of the film are with the fictionalized Daiss Auto/Gun Shop. Honestly, that whole storyline feel as contrived as it is fictionalized. Everyone assumed Chris bought her .38 SW revolver at the Bullet Hole, a gun ship in Sarasota. I'm not sure why the writers took this direction but it is distracting. Also, the choice to leave out the real life story of Chris doing an episode of Suncoast Digest about suicide, even interviewing a cop who she asked what is the most effective method to kill oneself (which, 3 weeks later she followed to a T) takes away from the "bio pic" feel, especially since most of the viewers know her story by heart. Even with the creative gun storyline, her pain and disillusionment is palpable. My main criticism,and reason for the 8/10 reason, is the minimal attention given to her mental health. There is brief mention of a previous breakdown, and that she had taken antidepressants, that's really it. From family accounts, Chris had struggled with mental health issues since high school. Overall, a great movie about a very difficult topic. I was skeptical going in but am glad I made the decision to watch it. Anachronisms: Peg's TV wasn't made in 1974, the doctor says that Chris' chart said that she had been taking Trazodone, I'm fairly certain that it wasn't approved by the FDA to treat depression in the US until 1981.rest in peace Chris Chubbuck